In the winter of 2020, Knott Co 4-H was approached by several local organizations who had lost their typical sponsors and volunteers due to the pandemic.  These organizations look to help youth who are in the foster care system.  These youth and families are extremely high risk and the majority are low income.  We have never attempted a program like an angel tree where children are anonymous and donated gifts are given to those children and families in need, but we embraced the idea and decided to implement it into a 4-H Christmas Cares Program.  

In order to be COVID friendly, we had sponsors drop off items in our drop boxes or ship items directly to our office from stores to be included in the drive.  The 4-H agent and office staff were in charge of wrapping and ensuring that all the donations made it to the correct child and family.   Distribution of the bags was handled by the families’ social workers or counselors who had already established interactions with them. The bags were picked up by them outside of our office. 

The program was an overwhelming success. We had an outpouring of support from previous
4-H Youth Leadership Ambassador club members, many adults and community partners, such as JFS Fire Department and Ball Creek Fire Department, HES Beta Club, and local Shriners members. These volunteers sponsored 28 youth and families through the 4-H Christmas Cares program.  Every child received a very full large contractor bag of gifts, items of need, and lots of love. Although created due to the pandemic, this is a program that Knott Co 4-H plans to continue in the coming years.