St. Luke's Community House

Adopt-A-Family 2009

Each year, St. Luke’s sponsors an Adopt-a-Family program in which we try to help entire families and seniors from our neighborhood meet their holiday needs. Low income families who meet the USDA free-lunch guidelines are matched with donors who then help fulfill many of the items or needs as stated on the family’s ‘wish list.’ Thank you for your consideration in supporting this program.

Our wonderful donor list encompasses individuals, families, churches, businesses, scout troops, school classrooms, you name it…there are many kinds of caring individuals and groups who reach out to others during this season of giving. Each year we serve 350 families and approximately 75 seniors through Adopt-A-Family.

The process to Adopt-A-Family is simple and involves the following steps:

1.     Call our Volunteer Manager at (324-8375) beginning October 19th to request a family.
2.     St. Luke’s will fill out a donor form for you listing your preferences on size of family, age range of children, etc. You will also be asked if you prefer to deliver directly to their home or to St. Luke’s.
3.     St. Luke’s will match you with one of our registered families.
4.     St. Luke’s will fax a copy of the family’s information sheet (Wish List).
5.     Have fun shopping for your senior or family! Remember: they have given you CHOICES! You don’t have to purchase everything they’ve asked for.
6.     Wrap each gift and tag with name of recipient and family number
7.     If you are dropping the gifts off at St. Luke’s, please place all of the wrapped gifts in black trash bags and place a large label with the family number on ALL of the bags (This will help with the efficiency of the drop off process.)
8.     Deliver gifts either to St. Luke’s (Old Gym) OR to the family December 7th through 11th. All deliveries MUST be made by December 11th.
9.     PLEASE notify us once the delivery has been made, if made directly to the family.
10.Know that we appreciate all the work you have done to make this holiday season wonderful for one of our families.

Tips & Tricks:

Parents of the families are often not concerned with themselves and are more concerned for their children and making ends meet. Things such as Kroger or Wal-mart gift certificates, a ham or turkey, household items (towels, pots/pans, etc), certificates for a movie night and pizza, or gift certificates for NES might be welcome gifts for the whole family. We want to make sure parents get a little something too.
Please make sure to check the information form carefully before calling your family. Keep in mind that some of our families are very shy and have some shame associated with their living conditions. We have allowed them the right to privacy if they choose – thank you for being sensitive to their wishes
If you drop off your gifts at St. Luke’s, please inform the staff or volunteers if the gift includes a gift certificate or food, so we can make sure the family is aware.
If a family member requests school uniforms, this is the standard school attire that meets all Metro Davidson Schools:
•    Polo Shirt: white
•    Pants: khaki or navy (no side pockets)
•    Skirts / Jumpers: khaki or navy
•    Jacket: khaki or navy
•    Shoes: any
Thank you so much for spreading the true spirit of the holiday season to those less fortunate. Please don’t hesitate to call our Volunteer Manager at 324-8375.

Thank you for being a blessing to a family or senior in need and for helping St. Luke’s help others. If you are not able to “adopt” an entire family, but would still like to help, we always need gift certificates in any denomination from Wal-mart, Target, NES, etc to give to families in crisis. Again, many thanks for making this a great holiday season!

Download our Adopt-A-Family application here.