100+ Women Who Care Donate $10,000

At a meeting held in December, 100+ Women Who Care in Rhode Island, a philanthropic organization made up of just women, voted to give Adopt-a-Family, Inc. a donation of $10,000.

“We are a privately-funded program run by all volunteers. Being chosen to receive such a large donation was something we never expected and will help us continue our work long into the future,” said Sandra Soares, Executive Director of Adopt-a-Family.   “This is an amazing group of women who are dedicated to helping people in their own backyards, and we share their dedication to those in need.”

100+ Women Who Care in Rhode Island was founded early in 2012 and donates $10,000 quarterly to local charities. Other ‘‘Women Who Care’’ groups work in other states across the U.S.

A Job Well Done

Adopt-a-Family's Distribution Week started Sunday, December 9th and ended Saturday, December 15th.  During that week 2,112 children from 1,049 families received gifts of toys and clothes.  Working out of the Elks Lodge in Woonsocket from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. our 180 volunteers handled about 4,500 bags of gifts and hundreds of bikes.

In addition, during the week these families in crisis came to us for help: 

1.    A mom with two children who was a victim of domestic violence walked in.  She had fled an abusive situation and left everything behind.

2.   A single dad with two kids, 4 & 7, had a fire in their apartment and lost everything, Christmas gifts included.

3.   Six kids had recently moved into the homeless shelter and had nothing.

4.   26 kids in Woonsocket programs who hadn't qualified for our program but were in need.

All of these families were taken in and given new clothes and toys from our warehouse.

To learn more about the happy events that took place and photos from the week, visit the Woonsocket Patch.

We thank all of our donors and hardworking volunteers for making the year a success.

Rolling Along

Every year hundreds of bicycles are given to the children of families who apply for help.  Last year during Distribution Week 330 bicycles were donated by generous donors.

All bikes must be new, fully assembled when they arrive and include a safety helmet.

Before being distributed, each bike must be inspected by our "Bike Crew."  In order to earn the 'green dot' approval, each is inspected for:

1. General condition and operation (last year a bike arrived with the handle bars installed backwards)
2. Properly working brakes
3. Fully inflated tires

Once all of those details have been inspected and approved, a green dot is attached to the seat and the bicycle is sent out to a happy child.

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We Still Need Help

Don't forget about our annual Food Drive.  The RI Community Food Bank is seeing record numbers of hungry families asking for help and donations are dropping.  An impossible combination.

Adopt-a-Family is asking for donations of non-perishable food items.  Stop by during Distribution Week, December 10-15, with a donation and have a cup of coffee with us.  We'll be at the Elks Lodge, 380 Social Street in Woonsocket.

In the past several years we've gathered hundreds of pounds of food that was given to a local food pantry.

And, of course, like all non-profit organizations, we are always in need of monetary donations.  Personal checks or money orders should be made payable to Adopt-a-Family, Inc. and sent to:

Adopt-a-Family, Inc.

P.O. Box 7665

Cumberland, RI  02864

You can also make online donations through Paypal.

Remember, we are a privately-funded 501(c)3 organization dedicated to helping the children of Woonsocket.  We are not part of any other similarly-named organizations.  All donations are tax deductible as allowed by law.

As always, we thank you for your help.

If you have any questions or concerns, please free to email us at AdoptAFamily@gmail.com or leave a message at 401-766-2291 and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.

Great News!

We've matched 1,026 families with donors.  That is every eligible family in need who applied.

More details later!  A big Thank You to all who helped.

We Still Have Families Waiting

People from Georgia, New York, Florida, Michigan and all over New England have contacted Adopt-a-Family over the last two months and offered help.  They have offered to take a child's wish list and then use it to bring a bit of Christmas love and joy to a needy child.

These are children they will never know; children who will never know who their Secret Santa was.  What the people who give will know is that they made a child smile, squeal or laugh when they opened those gifts.

From Some of Our Families

As part of the application for Adopt-a-Family, the families are asked for information about why they need our help.  Here are actual statements from some of this year's families.

Maria says:
I lost my job a couple months ago and having a hard time catching up with bills.  Just making it.  I am waiting to start a CNA course.  It starts in January.

From Nicole:
I am a single mother of three small children who is out of work due to a back injury.

Lakesha wrote:
I'm currently in a nursing program at Lincoln Tech Mon-Fri 8-2:30 and I'm unable to work overtime due to school.  As of right now I'm barely able to pay all my bills and I'm asking for help.

This year we have received requests from many grandparents raising grandchildren; families who have taken in nieces and nephews; women who have fled abusive relationships; families who have been evicted and many who pay as much as 60% of their monthly income for rent.

We still have more than 300 children waiting to be 'adopted.'  There's a Donor Reply Card to the right on this page.  Please fill it out and send it to us.

Adopt-a-Family Can Be An Important Learning Experience

We received a note from a family recently that said:

"We would like to adopt two children.  If possible please send us a boy who is six and a girl who is 10.  We have a son and a daughter those ages, and we want to get them involved to show them that not everyone has what they have."

When donors request kids of certain ages we do our best to accommodate them.  We have 235 kids waiting to be matched with donor families so we were able to fill their request.

What a great opportunity to get their children involved in community service and to teach a valuable lesson.

Good News, Bad News

The good news is that we have about 375 families matched with donors.  The bad news is that we have applications from at least another 175 who we are waiting to match.  Woonsocket parents struggling to provide for their families can apply until the Friday before Thanksgiving so we expect to receive requests for help from at least another 500+.   Annually we receive requests from approximately 1,100 families.  In 2011 we helped more than 1,000 with more than 2,200 kids.

If you've ever said "Some year I think I'd like to adopt a family," make this year the one.  If you would like to help but don't have the time to shop, send us a donation and we'll use it to take care of  families we won't have donors for.

MY LIFE - Adopt-A-Family (2012)

By Rhea Bouchard Powers

Halloween hasn't even happened yet, and Thanksgiving is still a month away, but here at Adopt-A-Family we are already hard at work processing applications and matching donors to recipients.

So far it looks like another tough year.  As early in the season as it may seem, we are up to our ears in applications, hoping to match all who qualify with willing donors. Last year we fell short by 300 children, all of whom were ultimately taken care of thanks to cash donations and a small group of volunteers who scrambled madly, shopping, wrapping, bagging and tagging as time was running out on our final day of distribution week, literally racing the clock to get it all done. We are hoping that by getting our plea out a little earlier this year we may be able to stave off another near disaster.