Children's Holiday Fund needs you You can make a real difference in a child's Christmas this year

PLYMOUTH - You, your office, your buddies, your team, your department, your block, your dorm, your building, your friends, your family: You can make a real difference for a family this Christmas by participating in the Children's Holiday Fund.

It's simple. You adopt a family, you buy presents for the children in that family, you wake up Christmas morning knowing that in a home nearby your presents are being open by children who without your help would have gone without.

The folks at BID-Plymouth know how to do it.

"It's really incredible," Deb Schopperle, senior project and marketing and communications manager at BID-Plymouth said this week. "Each of our 30 departments participate; each 'adopts' their own family."

The individuals or groups adopting a family are given a profile of the family - size, age and gender of children, and a description of their situation.

There is also, supposedly, a limit of $50 per child but Schopperle says many departments blow right through that.

"We try to match up the departments with the right-sized family," Schopperle says. "Big departments get families with the most children; little departments may have only one child to buy for.

"Everybody loves the program here and is excited to participate. They only wish they could see the faces of the children Christmas morning."

"They're calling me all the time during the season," Schopperle said. "They want to know if they can go over the $50 limit (many do), if they can buy the children bikes. One department bought and decorated a tree, and they wanted to know if they could personally deliver it."

Last year BID-Plymouth's donations of gifts had a value of over $7,000, and this year Schopperle is challenging other businesses to match their effort.

Whether you do it at work or at home, the process is the same.

First you call the Plymouth Area Coalition (781-582-2010) and let them know you'd like to adopt a family. The families' identities, taken from a list of children in Carver, Halifax, Kingston, Plympton and Plymouth, already being helped by the Plymouth Area Coalition and other agencies, are kept private.

When you sign up you receive a profile of the child (from newborns to 17-year-olds) along with their wish list.

Shop for the items on that list, drop them off at the Coalition, and as simple as that you have helped make a happy holiday for a deserving family.

Too busy to do more shopping? You can also write out a check - payable to the Children's Holiday Fund, a 501(c) (3) charity - and send it to 149 Bishop's Highway, Kingston, MA 02364. They'll do the shopping for you.

If you have already bought a few extra gifts the Coalition will happily accept them and match them up with a child in need.

Last year the combined value of the in-kind donations (toys, jackets, infant needs) and cash donations to the Fund totaled over $100,000.

That's a lot of Christmas joy. But if one child goes without, it's not enough.

Sign up now. Get the homeowners on your street to join with you. Tell your friends. Post it on Facebook.

And one final note. If your family is in need don't hesitate to call the Coalition (781-585-0006) and get an application for the fund.

-Follow Frank Mand on Twitter @frankmandOCM.