Christmas Giving 2010

2010 ADOPTED FAMILIES – UPDATED APRIL 2011

*Please note that ages are at time of adoption.

FAMILY #1

Cicely and Robert are parents to Kristeona, as well as three sons, Michael (age 17), Mark (age 14), and Joe (age 12) and two other daughters, Dezire (age 10) and A’nya (age 7).  Kristeona was born premature on October 4, 2009 and was 2 lbs. 11 ounces.  She was born with two holes in her heart, down syndrome and necrotizing enterocolitis.  Kristeona had to have multiple surgeries including intestinal repairs, open heart surgery, a tracheotomy, and the inserting of a feeding tube.  The family has overcome homelessness since the birth of Kristeona, the daughter that they call a blessing and “their special angel” and is working tirelessly to improve their financial situation.

On  November 27, 2010, Kristeona, passed away.  The other seven members of her family were extremely grateful for our assistance during such a difficult time.  The children were very excited to have snow pants for the first time in their lives and loved how warm their new coats were.  Two of her sibling’s sent thank you notes displayed on this page.  We wish Kristeona’s family only the best and our thoughts are with them as their grieve.

FAMILY #2 

Shprisa and her husband, Krist, have three daughters named Gabriella (age 8), Marte (age 6) and Marie (age 18 months).  Marie was born with a heart condition that required open heart surgery.  The doctors are continuing to watch the other two holes in her heart to see if they will close on their own or will require additional surgery.  She also has a profound hearing loss in her left ear.  As of January 2011, Marie has had a total of nine surgeries to assist in her medical conditions.  Shprisa and Krist both have a work history in the food service industry.  Since Marie was born Shprisa has had to stay home and care for her.  Krist works full-time on the midnight shift at a local restaurant.  Shprisa expressed extreme gratitude for everything that Jamie’s Smiles has done for her family.  She said that her children were very grateful and are enjoying the clothing, books and toys. 

FAMILY #3

Single Mom, Azure, has a son, Amir (age 18 months), and gave birth to a healthy baby girl, Amya, on November 22, 2010.  Amir has Chromosome Ring 18 Syndrome which tends to be associated with mental retardation, craniofacial dysmorphism, limb deformities and other physical concerns.   In addition to being a devoted full-time mother, Azure is a student and is back to work full-time.  Since the holidays, Amir is crawling like a champion and has begun taking steps. 

OTHERS WE HELPED

We also helped an additional 25 families by giving them non-perishable food, diapers, clothing, learning toys for their children and/or gift cards for food.  We raised and spent over $8,200.  The total estimated retail value of the gifts was over $13,000.

We would like to thank our community partners including: the parish of St. Therese Lisieux (Shelby Township), Trinity Lutheran School (Clinton Township), Meijer (Shelby Township), Kroger (Harrison Township), and Kohl’s.  Kohl’s “A Team” which is a part of their “Kohl’s Cares for Kids” program spent many hours helping us wrap gifts, not to mention all the time that they helped us in making our purchases, the discount that they gave us on everything and contribution that they have made from their corporate giving program!  MANY THANKS Kohl’s on 26 Mile in Shelby Township!!!  As always, your support and generosity are GREATLY APPRECIATED!

Your generosity made it possible for us to supply the following items to our families:

Children

• Winter coats for each child
• A pair of snow pants for each child
• 2 sets of hats, mittens/gloves for each child
• Two pair of pajamas for each child
• At least four winter clothing outfits for each child
• Several sets of socks and underwear
• A pair of shoes & a pair of winter boots each
• A reclining booster seat
• Two push behind/ride on toys
• Two sets of crib sheets per baby
• At least three learning toys per child (many were donated courtesy of the Shelby Community Foundation’s “Willy Wonka” event – THANK YOU!)
• At least 3 books for every child
• A devotion book for each child
• Several small stocking stuffer items for each child
• Cases of diapers & wipes where needed

Parents

• A winter coat each where needed
• Hats and gloves for each parent
• A pair of pajamas for each parent
• Four winter clothing outfits each
• A pair of shoes each
• A pair of boots each
• Socks
• One set of sheets for all older children/adults
• One blanket for all older children/adults
• A comforter for all older children/adults
• Pillows for all older children/adults
• Toothbrushes and floss for everyone in families
• Personal care products such shampoo and soap
• Several small stocking stuffer items each
• Over $4,000 in food gift cards for our families and other families in need

* Please note that this list is NOT comprehensive

We also had a large number of donated items that were miscellaneous sizes or were duplicates for our families.  We gave these items to MIPP to distribute to other needy families in the program.

THANK YOU!  THANK YOU!  THANK YOU!

To every individual and organization involved this year…From Jamie’s Smiles and 15 people in our Adopted Families and our 25 other Families!