Writing Mind

I can’t believe that this is year nine of bringing joy to local families in need at Christmas. The years have certainly flown by so fast! I need your help this year with doing what we do for the families that were chosen! Last year, we helped three families. This year, we only have two families and these families include three parents, one grandparent, and five kids!

What The Fundraiser is All About

We try to raise at least $500 cash per family so they can go out and buy the things they need most for their household. We also want to supply the wish lists and some clothing for each family member in the household. This means that not only do we want to make sure the kids have what they need, and some of what they want, but we also want to treat the parents as well! Each parent will receive a pair of pajamas, and also at least one item that they need (shoes, socks, jacket, etc.) and a small gift. We don’t go overboard with the parents, but we do try to make sure the kids have a nice Christmas with at least one complete outfit, a new pair of shoes, socks, under clothing, and a couple wish list items.

The Christmas fundraiser started 9 years ago to be able to assist a few families each year. The families cannot be signed up on other Christmas or holiday assistance programs. One parent in each home must be employed but the family must be able to show they need assistance to make Christmas happen for their family.

What We Need

As you all know, we also try to make sure each family has Thanksgiving as well as Christmas dinner. So, we could use gift cards for Walmart or Food City to help with that, OR we can accept donations of canned vegetables, butter, bagged potatoes, stuffing mix, milk, macaroni and cheese, or frozen turkeys! A dessert would be great as well! (Pecan pie? Apple pie? Pumpkin pie?)

We’re also seeking household cleaning products including dish soap, laundry soap, paper towels, toilet paper, dish cloths/sponges, and toiletries including full size bottles of shampoo and conditioner, soaps (liquid and bar soap). Full size bottles are preferred since these are for families.

We can arrange for local pickup for gift and household cleaning supplies.

Out of town donations can be taken via CashApp at $AngelaCaito or at PayPal at: www.PayPal.me/AngelaCaito

Introducing, The 2023 Christmas Families!

Families can be “adopted” as entire families by one person, or as individual family members. You can also just sponsor with just an item or two, or with gift cards or cash donations. Here are the 2023 families in need:

Family One

Our first family is a family of six including, Mom, Dad, Grandmother, two sons, and one daughter. Mom works at Walmart in Johnson City, and of the sons works for a local fast food business. Dad is disabled, and their Grandmother is elderly. The kids that are still in school attend school at Hampton Elementary and Hampton High School.

Mom: Age 35

Mom (age 35) works at Walmart in Johnson City and has worked with the company for more than five years. She likes neutral colors in her home, and even for her clothing! She loves to cook for her family, and used to enjoy baking goodies for friends that she works with but yshe lost all of her baking supplies during a move to Carter County, TN in 2021. She said that she could really use some tennis shoes or long-sleeved shirts for home and work. She prefers t-shirt style shirts and Vans style shoes.

Dad-Age 37

Dad (age 37) is disabled due to an injury at work in 2020 and stays at home to help take care of his mother and the kids when the kids are not at school. He is not on disability and he said he hopes to be able to return to the workforce this coming year. He had surgery on his back in 2021 and his doctor has said he should be able to start work again by January. He has worked in construction since he was 22 years old and looks forward to going back to work. He likes the colors red, blue, and black when it comes to clothing. He loves classic cars. Dad could use a pair of decent tennis shoes in size 14 or some long-sleeved t-shirts or button down shirts for colder weather. He said it would also be great to have a new pair of steel toed boots for when he returns to work. His shoes are fairly worn out currently. He also needs socks and prefers the white or black crew socks.

Parent Needs/Wants:

Socks for both (Mom, no show socks and dad wears any kind of socks)

Mom could use some long-sleeved shirts and a pair of tennis shoes.

Dad needs long sleeve shirts and a pair of tennis shoes.

Grandmother (Age 71)

Grandmother is 71 and moved in with her son and his wife and children about two years ago. She is from Texas and said she is still not used to the cooler weather in Tennessee. She needs some sweat pants and long-sleeved shirts to go with sweat pants. She said she could also use some new reading glasses and she uses a 2.50 strength in over the counter reading glasses. She loves to read books and enjoys romance novels and crossword puzzle or word search books.

Grandmother needs

Long sleeve shirts

Tennis shoes

Reading glasses (2.50)

Son- Age 10

“S” (age 10) is a silly little boy who loves to tell jokes! He said he doesn’t have a favorite color but that most of his clothes are blue or red. He loves to play with remote control cars and trucks, and wants to play baseball at school next year. He would love to have a drone as well as a new remote control car, and a football or a baseball bat and glove. He needs long-sleeve shirts as well as winter pajamas. His mom said that he does not currently have even one pair of pajamas as he has outgrown the ones he had.

Needs

Wish List

Daughter- Age 16

“R” (age 16) is a typical teenage girl. She loves to hang out with her friends at sleepovers. She said that she and her friends like to go to the mall when she is able to go and she likes to go to Quantum Leap in Johnson City. She also likes to go downtown Elizabethton to explore the stores downtown. She said that Merle Norman in downtown Elizabethton is her favorite store but that she has not ever been able to afford anything there! She would love to have some new makeup or some jewelry. She said that she likes to wear neutral colors for eye shadow and blush and lipstick. She likes yellow gold jewelry because ever since she’s always curious if is there money in gold. She also loves to bake and said that she would love to have some new baking stuff so she could bake cakes and cookies with her mom.

Needs

Wish List

Son- Age 17

“J” (age 17) will be 18 in January and he works at a local fast food restaurant right now. He asked us not to post where he works so that his co-workers will not chance knowing who he is. He has a car and could use gift cards for fuel if possible. He also needs hoodies and long-sleeve shirts. He does not own any pajamas and said it would be great to have a pair of pajamas! He has a girlfriend and he said that restaurant gift cards or even a Walmart gift card would be nice so he could take her out to dinner or so he could buy some things that he needs. He usually helps his parents out with some of their bills as well as with a few groceries when he is able to from his job.

Needs

Wish List

Family Two

Our second family is a family of three that includes a single mom, a teenage daughter and a teenage son. Mom works as an Instacart delivery driver as well as for a company called Allegis where she does some sort of transcription work online. The kids attend school at Elizabethton High School.

Mom–Age 46

Mom’s (age 46) favorite colors are grass green. She likes art work in her home that includes cabins, mountains and natural beauty. She and the kids enjoy spending time in the great outdoors and take part in hiking, camping, and other outdoor adventure on the weekends and during summer break. She said that she just wants the kids to have a good Christmas, but we would love to make sure her Christmas is good as well!

Mom Needs

Daughter- Age 15

“M” (age 15) likes the color pink. She loves gymnastics and wants to be a scientist when she grows up. She is extremely smart and excels in school. She likes to be girly and likes to do hair and makeup for herself, her friends, and even for her mom! She likes to hang out with her friends and enjoys going to the movies, camping, hiking, and going to the mall with her friends. She said that she would love to have a tablet or Chromebook or other type of laptop for school and to learn more when at home. She would also love to have new clothes.

Needs:

Wish List

Son- Age 16

“K” (age 16) likes the colors navy blue and black when it comes to clothing. he won’t wear a heavy coat, but he likes to wear hoodies. He loves to play video games and his favorite games include Madden football and Gears of War. He collects Pokemon cards and anime figures. K wants to be a game designer and plans to attend school at either Los Angeles Film School or Savannah College of Art and Design so he can learn how to design video games. He said he would like to have a Walmart or Gam Stop gift card. He needs winter clothing, socks, and boxers.

Needs

Wish List

Food!

If you have helped with the holiday fundraiser before, you already know that we not only work to provide a great Christmas for the families, but we also try to ensure they have a Thanksgiving and Christmas meal, as well as stockings for each child at Christmas! Here is a list of what we need for each family to fulfill the food!

Thanksgiving Meals

Stockings!

• candy canes
• chocolates
• Santa chocolate
• 5 red stockings
• small toys/gifts for stocking stuffers
• chap sticks
• fruit (apples/oranges)

Thank you to all who are able to assist with the holiday fundraiser this year!