By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
Once again, St. Joseph residents stepped up to help those in need during Christmas through the Adopt A family program.
With hours to spare, three families were left to be adopted on Christmas Eve, but AFL-CIO Community Services reports those families were taken care of moments before the deadline.
Executive Director Nichi Seckinger says generous people came to adopt, and some local businesses stepped in to help donate some money to cover gift costs as well.
“We ended up in a pretty good position when everything was said and done,” Seckinger tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post. “I think it was about 1:30 on Christmas Eve we had everybody adopted and shopped for and ready to go, so it was a huge relief, and I’m really glad that our staff and our folks also got to go home and celebrate the holiday.”
In all, 881 families were adopted this Christmas, which Seckinger says is around the same as last year. Several others went through the gift room to find presents as well.
Seckinger says it’s unreal to see how the community always steps up and says every year even when there’s fear not everyone will get adopted.
“When the community just keeps coming together and keeps taking care of these folks and gives people, they don’t even know a merry Christmas and a reason to celebrate and a much better way to end the year, it’s remarkable,” Seckinger explains. “It is absolutely remarkable to know that they’re here, and that they’ve reliably been there for 43 years now.”
Seckinger says they receive a lot of calls from around the country looking for programs like Adopt a Family and hear from places even larger than St. Joseph that these types of programs don’t exist.
Seckinger says while this year money donations were down substantially, leaving the gap to cover very large, the community stepped up at the end
“Being able to get that met and have other people step up and other organizations step up, we saw some donors this year that we’ve not had before,” Seckinger says. “And so it’s good when you know that when you put that call out people really understand and they really know that when we say it, we mean it, it’s not a ploy, it’s not a scare tactic, we are really in a position where we have to get that help to be able to carry it over.”
Seckinger believes that speaks to the reputation of the program and respect it’s gained from people over its 43 years of serving those in need in St. Joseph.
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