Giving Tree gives chance to help kids
Published: December 3, 2005
All I know about Ashley is that she’s a 14-year-old fan of the singer Monica and she likes to play cards.
And she’s a resident of Crossroad, which offers treatment services for severely emotionally troubled kids.
I found her name on a Crossroad Giving Tree in the Jefferson Pointe food court. She’s just one of the 80 Crossroad kids, ages 6 and up, who have tags decorating the two trees.
They’re not asking for much, just the typical inexpensive things that most kids want: arts and crafts kits, hair accessories, a personal CD player, T-shirts.
But in this case, these small luxuries will be treasured a bit more, because many kids arrive at Crossroad with very little to call their own. Many of them are victims of abuse or neglect and were removed from their homes for their protection. Sometimes those removals happen quickly, and the kids don’t have a chance to grab a lot of their stuff.
Obviously, their basic needs will be met at Crossroad, but what about the special things?
When you’re a kid, nothing is more important than your stuff: the CD you listen to over and over again, the stuffed animal you secretly sleep with, the earrings you always wear.
“Christmas is a difficult time for our children. None of them want to be here,” says Kyle Zanker, chief development officer for Crossroad.
Some of the kids are allowed to go home to their families for the holiday; some aren’t. Some don’t really have a home to go to, she says.
“Many of our children don’t have a lot of happy memories, and so we want to create some for them. What better time to do that than Christmas?” Zanker says.
Here’s how you can help.
Take a tag and buy the gifts listed, then deliver them, unwrapped, to one of the drop-off spots at Jefferson Pointe – the main office, Naked Clay Cafe or Acorn – by Dec. 16. The gifts must be unwrapped so staff can check to see that they’re appropriate.
That also helps them make sure each child gets the same number of gifts. (Some people will buy one item on a tag, while others will buy them all.)
You also can donate wrapping paper (drop it off at the same spots) or volunteer to help staff wrap the presents the week of Dec. 22. The wrapped gifts will be put under the Christmas trees in the various living areas at Crossroad.
The agency also has a year-round “wish list” of items that includes medium-size stuffed animals with soft eyes, new pajamas and robes, new socks and underwear, and non-slip slippers (especially those for young men).
If you’d like to donate any of those things, you can drop them off at the Jefferson Pointe locations, or at the Crossroad administration building, 2525 Lake Ave. You can also make monetary donations at .vCrossroad is paid a daily fee for each child, which covers 24-hour staffing, treatment, specialized groups, routine medical care, education, transportation, food, clothing and home-based services.
“Those fees do not cover the entire cost of our needs, that’s why we do fundraising,” Zanker says.
Crossroad/Fort Wayne Children’s Home was founded as an orphanage in 1883 by the German Reformed Church, the predecessor of United Church of Christ.
The kids who come here will stay anywhere from three months to two years. They might be referred by various state agencies, including the juvenile court system, as well as hospitals and mental health professionals.
They represent diverse backgrounds, in terms of their economic situation, race and educational abilities.
But they all have severe emotional problems and may have multiple physical or medical issues, Zanker says.
Not surprisingly, many also suffer from serious depression.
“They’re just kids. It’s heartbreaking,” Zanker says.
The Giving Tree program has helped hundreds of Crossroad kids during the past 15 years, with the community’s help.
If you’d like to help Crossroad kids in some other way, call Brooke Branyan at 484-4153 ext. 202.
Those are just some of the kids who could benefit from your generosity during this holiday season.
And if you visited the Haunted Castle on Auburn Road this fall, run by the Boy Scout troops affiliated with St. Vincent Church, you already have shared the wealth.
The Scouts have used proceeds from that venture, as well as some of their own money, to buy Christmas gifts for Pathways Inc. kids for the past several years.
These kids are temporarily homeless teens, mostly runaways, who are not involved with the court system and are still in school or working on their GED. They get temporary housing, employment help and related services through The Villages of Indiana (www.villages.org), with the daily fees paid by Pathways.
But they could use something extra. And thanks to the Scouts, they get it.
Again, their listed “wants” are mostly needs – cleaning supplies, flannel shirts, gas cards and underwear, says Scoutmaster Randy Young.
Right now, there are 27 teens getting short-term help (three to six months) from Pathways, including some with kids of their own.
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