Making Christmas Bright needs extra sparkle

September 19, 2018

Port St. Lucie -

Imagine you're 5 years old. You wake up one morning in a strange home because your mom and dad can't take care of you anymore.

Now imagine it is Christmas morning. Did Santa find you?

The Making Christmas Bright project needs some community stars to make sure the answer is, "yes."

"We're looking for businesses, social groups and churches to coordinate toy drives on our behalf," said Christina Kaiser, Communities Connected for Kids community relations director and project manager for Making Christmas Bright, a local gift drive first organized in 1999 to ensure children in foster care receive presents during the holidays.

The project, now in its 19th year, provides gifts to more than 1,000 children in Indian River, Martin, Okeechobee and St. Lucie counties who have been abused, abandoned or neglected and who are currently receiving services through the child-welfare system.

Participation is simple:

• Ask for a list of children's names and gift wishes by contacting the project coordinator at Christina.Kaiser@cckids.net
• Organize a toy drive with your employees or members
• Call us when you're ready for a pick up - we'll come to you! Pickup this year is scheduled for the week of December 10

Making Christmas Bright is jointly coordinated by Communities Connected for Kids and Guardians for New Futures, a nonprofit organization that helps meet the unfunded needs of children in foster care.
For more information about the project, including flyers and brochures that can be downloaded and shared, please call Kaiser at (772) 528-0362.