Family Sponsors Sought For Valley Miracle Tree Program
November 13, 2018 at 5:43 p.m.
By Staff Report-
Miracle Tree has been a holiday tradition in the Rochester community for more than a decade, thanks to the Mill Creek Church, but because of an increase in the amount of people from the Tippecanoe Valley area seeking assistance, the decision was made in 2016 to expand the program.
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Trees were set up Saturday at Bell Memorial Public Library in Mentone and Akron Carnegie Public Library in Akron. Families throughout the Tippecanoe Valley community who have expressed an interest in receiving help this year will be assigned a number. Those numbers will then be placed on ornaments and hung on the trees. The number lets a potential sponsor know how many children are in the family and their ages.
“Each family will have a wish list for the sponsors to use when shopping, filled with clothing sizes and toys requested,” said Darren Parker, a former instructor at Tippecanoe Valley High School and a member of Mill Creek Church.
If a person, business or organization is interested in sponsoring a family, they take an ornament from the tree and give it to the circulation desk at either library. The sponsor is then provided a wish list for that family with items the children might want for Christmas.
Sponsors wrap the gifts they purchase and then return them back to staging areas at Splendor Boats in Silver Lake or either the Akron or Mentone Elementary Schools. To avoid any confusion, there are specific instructions on each wish list on how to mark the gift after it has been wrapped so organizers know which gift belongs to which family and child.
Gifts must be returned to the libraries by Dec. 7. There is no limit to the amount of money a sponsor can spend on a family, but it is encouraged to spend $50 minimum per child. Gifts will be distributed to each family on a special night in December. The church will cater a meal, while the TVHS Student Council will provide activities for the children. Family pictures are also offered for each family in attendance, and Santa Clause will stop in to take special gift requests.
The Miracle Tree assisted over 125 Tippecanoe Valley families, provided Christmas gifts for more than 350 children, and fed more than 550 people at the culminating event night in 2017.
For more information, contact Lori Tilden-Geiger, director of marketing, public relations and grant writing, Tippecanoe Valley School Corp., at 574-598-2146.
Miracle Tree has been a holiday tradition in the Rochester community for more than a decade, thanks to the Mill Creek Church, but because of an increase in the amount of people from the Tippecanoe Valley area seeking assistance, the decision was made in 2016 to expand the program.
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Trees were set up Saturday at Bell Memorial Public Library in Mentone and Akron Carnegie Public Library in Akron. Families throughout the Tippecanoe Valley community who have expressed an interest in receiving help this year will be assigned a number. Those numbers will then be placed on ornaments and hung on the trees. The number lets a potential sponsor know how many children are in the family and their ages.
“Each family will have a wish list for the sponsors to use when shopping, filled with clothing sizes and toys requested,” said Darren Parker, a former instructor at Tippecanoe Valley High School and a member of Mill Creek Church.
If a person, business or organization is interested in sponsoring a family, they take an ornament from the tree and give it to the circulation desk at either library. The sponsor is then provided a wish list for that family with items the children might want for Christmas.
Sponsors wrap the gifts they purchase and then return them back to staging areas at Splendor Boats in Silver Lake or either the Akron or Mentone Elementary Schools. To avoid any confusion, there are specific instructions on each wish list on how to mark the gift after it has been wrapped so organizers know which gift belongs to which family and child.
Gifts must be returned to the libraries by Dec. 7. There is no limit to the amount of money a sponsor can spend on a family, but it is encouraged to spend $50 minimum per child. Gifts will be distributed to each family on a special night in December. The church will cater a meal, while the TVHS Student Council will provide activities for the children. Family pictures are also offered for each family in attendance, and Santa Clause will stop in to take special gift requests.
The Miracle Tree assisted over 125 Tippecanoe Valley families, provided Christmas gifts for more than 350 children, and fed more than 550 people at the culminating event night in 2017.
For more information, contact Lori Tilden-Geiger, director of marketing, public relations and grant writing, Tippecanoe Valley School Corp., at 574-598-2146.
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