Chesapeake mom grateful for Holiday Helpers

CHESAPEAKE, Va. — Chesapeake resident Deann Council never thought she’d end up homeless.

“We were staying in a place and the homeowner decided to sell the home," says Council.

And it happened right before Christmas last year. She and her four kids were out of their home with no place to go. So Deann reached out to For Kids for help.

“Our goal is to break the cycle of homelessness and poverty for families so we have our shelter program but beyond shelter we stay in touch with these families for years."

For Kids CEO Thalor McCormick says it's not a one and done kind of charity. They stick with families until they’re back on their feet.

“So this serves families within our shelter program and all of our housing programs and then alumni for up to 5 years.”

And that includes help during the holidays with the For Kids Holiday Helpers program. The charity collects toys and money from Thanksgiving until

mid December and stocks them here at the warehouse in Chesapeake.

“So it's like a toy store? Yeah, we will turn this from an ugly warehouse into a beautiful Walmart, Toys R US kind of place that is truly a joy for the

parents to come in and pick out what their kids get," says McCormick.

“To be able to come and bring the kids, it’ll be really fun to let them do it," says Council.

And right now, these shelves should be overflowing with toys and there not, so For Kids needs your help.

And if you don’t have time to buy toys, cash donations are much appreciated.

“We might get 200 Candyland games but we might not have anything a 13 year old girl wants so those monetary donations help us fill in the gaps,"

says McCormick.

And it's filling in those financial gaps that is so appreciated by clients like Deann.

“It picks up where I might now have, or fall short.”

If you would like to donate to For Kids and the Holiday Helpers program go to www.forkids.org to find the Amazon wish list.