This month’s blog was written by Chaddock’s Outreach and Church Relations Manager Shawna Bunnell. Shawna has been with Chaddock for over 9 years. Outside of her work at Chaddock, Shawna loves being “Aunt Shawna”, spending time with her nieces and nephews, and the rest of her family. She loves music, playing piano (badly), shopping, and podcasts.
In my almost 9 years at Chaddock, I have seen the impact that faith and strong relationships has on our kids. Those same values are integral to the success of the Chaddock Children’s Foundation, developed with the sole purpose of supporting Chaddock’s programs and services. As Outreach and Church Relations Manager, I share Chaddock’s ministry with an ever-growing network of churches, and work to both create, and strengthen, relationships with these churches and the donors within them.
Chaddock has an amazing group of supporters, which is easy to see during the holiday season. At this time of year, we run Santa Express, our annual effort to provide Christmas to the over 400 children and families in our care. It is a massive undertaking, an enormous blessing, and simply would not be possible without our churches and donors. Santa Express gives donors the opportunity to tangibly show our kids that they are seen and heard, and that what they want matters.
Here are just a few behind the scenes tidbits from Santa Express:
- Each year one church provides gifts for all of our 50 residential clients.
- A supporter has taken his love for Chaddock online and recruited gifts for us locally and from all over the country.
- A donor is “on call” each year to provide gifts for clients that arrive after Dec. 20th.
- We have been able to increase the number of 2nd Mile Families this year to 10. These families receive full Christmases (including the Christmas tree and holiday meals) from Chaddock, which are provided through our churches.
Throughout the year, our donors are consistent supporters who pray for us and provide for us. They care about our kids and they are invested in our mission. At Chaddock we say, “Every child deserves a chance.” I offer that those chances are not only given by our staff, but by each church and person who supports our ministry.
Editorial Note:
The mission of Chaddock Children’s Foundation is to engage individuals in sharing their time, talent, and treasure to support the programs and services of the Chaddock Family of Organizations. These individuals come from all different places and have many different connections to Chaddock. Not only that but we have a large and ever-growing number of churches that support Chaddock and its children and families. There are so many different ways in which people “donate” to our organization, not just during the holiday season; many people volunteer their time, helping with events or with our yearly campus clean-up; others donate supplies to Grandmother’s Closet (items such as clothing, hygiene necessities and learning tools); some give monetary donations and others still sponsor outings and activities for our children. By not having to worry about the extras, our staff are able to dedicate their time and energy directly to the healing of our children and families; we are able to give our children a chance, because other’s give us a chance first.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of our donors and supporters for their continued and consistent support.
If you would like to support our Santa Express efforts, you can visit our main Chaddock website here
