Catholic Charities Share the Spirit Program Needs Sponsors for Area Families

Originally posted December 3rd, 2021 at 11:04 a.m.

Updated December 6th, 2021 6:31 a.m.

(KNSI) — The Catholic Charities’ Share the Spirit program is well underway with its planning process, but Catholic Charities’ Executive Director Steve Pareja says they still need sponsors for about 25 families.

Pareja says people and families that need help turn in a list of three wants and three needs, and then families, individuals, business groups, church groups, and social groups sign up to sponsor a family, get their lists and go buy gifts for them and then Catholic Charities turns around and hands those out.

Pareja says the lists are not full of extravagant items. Many times people need or want socks, underwear, and pajamas. Gift cards can also go a long way.

Pareja says when you sign up to sponsor a family, you can indicate on your registration form what size family you’d like to sponsor. He says to expect to spend around $70 per family member.

Time is running out to sign up to sponsor a family. The deadline for drop-offs is December 16th.

If sponsoring an entire family is a bit out of reach right now, Pareja says cash donations are always welcome, and staff can do the shopping for you.

Learn more about the program by clicking here.

December 3rd when this article was originally written, there were 50 families who still needed to be sponsored. As of Sunday, that number was cut in half.

Last year, Pareja said 247 families needed help, and it came down to the wire but added the community stepped up in a big way. A few days before the deadline, Pareja came on the air at KNSI to ask for some last minute sponsors, and he said by noon that same day, all the families had sponsors, and the phone was still ringing. He’s hoping that with a greater need this year, the community can again reach out and help.

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