WNC's Holiday Wishes program - Registration for donors

Hello WNC,

Before we know it, the holidays will be here! We're excited to share that donor registration for our Holiday Wishes program (formerly Adopt-a-Family), starts today and runs through November 4th.

The holidays and winter season can be especially difficult financially for families and this year may be particularly difficult due to inflation. As we pull together to make the season bright for everyone, your generosity can make a tremendous difference in the life of a family facing financial hardship right here in our community.

We invite individuals, families, organizations, and businesses to participate as Holiday Wishes donors.

As a reminder, here’s how the program works:

Complete the online registration by Friday, Nov. 4th with your contact information and preferred household size. We recommend that you choose a household size (1,2,3, 4, 5+) based upon your desired financial commitment (the guideline* is to spend no more than $100 per family member).

Once we receive your confirmed household size, we will match you with an individual or family and send their wish list to you. This will be completed by November 19th so that you can take advantage of Thanksgiving week, Black Friday, and Cyber sales. Wishes generally include items such as coats, winter apparel, clothing, pajamas, undergarments, boots, kitchen items, personal toiletries, books, video games, gift cards, toys, and 1-2 wishes for the family as a whole. NOTE: We ask families to provide specific sizes, gender, and color to help you in selecting items.

Purchase your gifts for the individual/family.

Wrap all packages and label each package per the family list you receive (i.e., 12-year old girl, mom, 4-year old boy, etc.).

Deliver your gifts to the Holiday Wishes distribution at the Waunakee Village Center, 333 S Madison Street, on Friday, December 16th or Saturday, December 17th. We will send out detailed instructions closer to the date. If you are not able to deliver the gifts during this time, please contact our office at (608)849-5740.

* The guideline to spend up to $100 per family member is to keep the program as equal among families as possible. Many of the children go to school together and adults know each other through work, church, and as neighbors, so when one individual or family gets more than another, it can cause hurt feelings.

If you, or your family/group, are wanting to be more generous, we recommend making an additional monetary donation or purchasing and donating gift cards to Waunakee Neighborhood Connection that can be given to families throughout the year as needs arise. Gift cards of $25 for stores such as Piggly Wiggly, Target, Wal-Mart, Fleet Farm, and gas stations are especially helpful. The cards can be dropped off along with your gifts on December 16th or 17th.

Other Ways to Help as the Weather Gets Colder

As you can imagine, household expenses - particularly for clothing and utilities - go up as the weather gets colder and the days get shorter. The situation for many local families continues to be fragile this year and the number of families we are serving has increased from 260 to 350 since last December. In addition to Holiday Wishes, we will also be providing individuals and families who are experiencing financial instability with a grocery gift card for holiday meal shopping and/or with financial assistance for unexpected expenses through our Neighbor to Neighbor Fund.

It is the financial donations from individuals and companies in the community make these and other programs and services possible, not only during the holidays but throughout the year.

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