As we begin to look past Halloween, the season of Thanksgiving and Christmas is now just around the corner.

With inflation on the rise and more families looking for some help this holiday season, one Mahoning Valley nonprofit is asking the public to brighten hundreds of children's Christmas morning.

"It's this current rise in everything," explained Cathy Pokrivnak, Executive Director of Protestant Family Service Nonprofit & Pantry. "Just the economy, with the war going on. There's just a lot of components."

Hundreds of families look to Protestant Family Services as a way to get their children presents under the Christmas tree, when they struggle to pay their bills. But in recent years, the nonprofit has seen a decline in donors for their Adopt-A-Child gift program.

The Adopt-A-Child gift program provides hundreds of children with Christmas gifts with the generosity of the public. 

"When you tell me how many children you will sponsor, I'll tell you their sex, their age, their sizes, their interests. Then, you get whatever you want to get and then bring it in unwrapped," Pokrivnak explained. 

HOW TO HELP

  • Those interested in becoming a sponsor, call the nonprofit at 330-746-4600 or email them at [email protected] and let them know the number of children you are looking to buy for. Once you have reached out, you will be provided will the sex and age of the child, sizes for clothing, and possible toys on their wishlist.

The program usually helps about 270 kids every holiday season.

"People love buying them for the kids and the kids love opening them," Pokrivnak said. 

The nonprofit uses monetary donations to make sure gifts are comparable in value to sibling's gifts. 

"That is where everyone will drop off the gifts on December 12th and then on the 14th, parents will come and get them," Pokrivnak explained. "We'll give them wrapping paper and we'll also give them a $25 gift card for food."

Visit Protestant Family Services' website for more information on the program.