Holiday cheer is being spread once again through the annual Joy 4 Kids program.
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) - Holiday cheer is being spread once again through the annual Joy 4 Kids program.
"It really, really restores your faith in humanity,” said Lynne Roller, Citizens Caring for Children Executive Director.
KFOR partners with Citizens Caring for Children and a number of other local groups each year to help fill holiday wish lists for hundreds of Oklahoma children in foster care.
"It's our favorite time of the year,” said Roller.
Foster parents send in wish lists for the children, which are fulfilled by generous donors.
The gifts are brought to an OKC warehouse where they get stacked and organized and ready for foster families to pick up.
According to Roller, right now there are about 7,000 kids in foster care statewide.
"It will be somewhere between 1,500 and 1,700 children that will receive gifts through this program,” said Roller.
This means the program will help nearly a quarter of Oklahoma foster children this Christmas.
"Christmas becomes especially challenging because you have these extra children in your home and you want them to be provided for in the same way as the other children in your home,” said Roller. “It also reminds foster children that there are people that care about them."
Chesapeake Energy also chipped in for the effort. The company volunteered Monday morning in addition to fulfilling about 85 wish lists this year.
"This is a really great example of something that can help children, not just in Oklahoma County, but across all of Oklahoma,” said Lehne George, with Chesapeake Energy.
There are still more lists to be fulfilled.
"We will continue to get more for the next three weeks,” said Roller. “So, it's an ongoing process up until Christmas.”
Roller said the program will run until Dec. 22.
To donate to the cause, click here.
To buy individual wish lists items on Amazon, click here.
