‘Adopt an Angel’ program running for sixth year

District residents once again can help make the holidays a brighter time for children in need as the “Adopt an Angel” campaign is underway for another year.
“This is our sixth year running the ‘Adopt an Angel’ program,” noted Jacquee Loerzel of Family & Children’s Services in Fort Frances. “[It’s] a program developed to try to help make a better Christmas for kids around the district.

“These kids are kids that are involved with FACS” explained Loerzel, who noted it includes children from Rainy River to Atikokan.
“They include foster children, as well as children from families that could use a little bit of extra help at Christmas time because they don’t have very much,” she noted. “So we find it’s just really important for people, and nice for people to get involved.
“So far, we have about 150 [children], and we’re probably expecting more after this,” said Loerzel, referring to the number of “angels” who currently are waiting to be adopted.
“We probably had about 170 kids last year, and I expect to probably get that again this year,” she remarked. “I think each year we’ve been increasing in number, every year.”
Christmas trees have been set up at Wal-Mart here and Tompkins Hardware in Emo.
“On the trees we have angel ornaments, and each angel ornament represents one of our children that’s looking for a gift,” she explained.
“We’ve made up a pseudo name for each of the children to protect their identity,” she added. “But then on it, as well, we have their actual age and whether they’re a boy or a girl, and gift suggestions for people so they kind of have an idea of what they can purchase for that child.
“Once the gift is purchased, they actually leave it at the store and the store will put it somewhere safe.”
From there, Loerzel herself or someone else from FACS will pick up the gifts so they can be delivered to the families prior to Christmas. While there hasn’t been a specific date set for when the campaign will wrap up, Loerzel said it probably will be about a week before Christmas to give FACS staff time to deliver everything.
“We kind of leave it up to the families how they want to use the gift,” she noted. “Whether they want to say it’s from Santa or whether they actually want to say it’s from the program, or however they want to use the gift.
“It’s really important because we really want to let these kids know that they are special and that people do care about them,” Loerzel stressed, noting a lot of them have had their self worth compromised because of the situations they are in.
“So we really find that any way we can make these children feel special and important and loved, that’s really on the top of our list.”
Another important aspect about the “Adopt an Angel” program is that it’s one that stays in the community, Loerzel added, and keeps everything local. And there’s no limit to how many “adoptions” people can make, she said.
“It doesn’t really matter. If one person wants to pick up one, if they want to pick up a few, it’s totally up to them,” she remarked, noting several businesses and organizations often make monetary donations to the program—something else that’s also appreciated.
“This year, we’ve already had a couple of people, the Rainy River District School Board is going to be helping us out, and the Women’s Business Network has asked to make a donation, as well, this year so far,” she noted.
“The community support for it has been absolutely amazing,” Loerzel enthused. “Every year I’m amazed at how generous our community is with helping out the program and our kids in the community.
“It’s been phenomenal.”