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 The Spring-Ford High School cafeteria annex was a flurry of activity on the Wednesday before Christmas as the Spring-Ford Rotary Club and the high school’s Interact Club met together to wrap Christmas presents.
The wrapping luncheon was the culmination of the Rotary Club’s sixth annual Adopt A Family program which provides Christmas gifts to children and families in need. The program this year supported 26 families representing 71 children.
In the program’s first year, seven families, representing 17 children and adults, were helped. In 2006, the club assisted 17 families, involving 60 children and adults.
In addition to gifts for the children, each family receives grocery gift cards. During the Adopt a Family luncheon this year, 308 gifts were wrapped, for children ranging in age from 3 months to about 18 years old.
Beth Smith, wife of Rotarian Tom Smith, is the shopper for the program. She noted that the wrapping party went “extremely well.” About 45 members of the high school’s Interact Club, which is sponsored by the Rotary Club, participated. “It was remarkable how quick the kids got it done,” she commented.
Families are identified for the program by the Spring-Ford guidance staff. When a family has been chosen, the parents are asked to provide a list of gift wishes for their children. Smith said the biggest surprise she had this year was that there were no requests for “outrageous stuff” like bikes and IPods. Instead, she said, many of the requests were for necessities such as winter coats and socks. “It made it obvious they needed it,” she said of the assistance the Rotary program provides.
Smith noted the “biggest accomplishment” this year on the shopping end of the program was providing a complete computer system “with printer and everything” for one of the older children. The system was assembled from excess parts from home, office and friends, she explained. Regarding the student who received the computer, she said, “It was really well deserved.”
Smith attributed the increase in the number of families served to the state of the economy. Rotarian Tom Droege, who coordinates the program with guidance counselors in the Spring-Ford School District, added that some of the increase was also because more counselors were asked to nominate families for the program. In the past it focused primarily on the elementary grades, Droege said, but this year the counselors from all the schools, including the higher grades, were asked to participate.
This year the Adopt a Family program provided $3302 in gifts and $3060 in grocery cards.
The program is funded by donations by Rotarians and the community at large. “If it wouldn’t have been for the extra things, we certainly could not have done it on our own,” Smith said.
For the past several years, Grace Lutheran Church, Royersford, has donated money toward the purchase of grocery store gift cards for the families. This year, the church increased that donation to $1500. First United Church of Christ of Royersford donated $1000, which also was used to increase the size of the Giant gift cards.
In addition, the Upper Providence Elementary School second grade class collected over $700 in cash and gift cards. The Interact Club donated $250.
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