Mother of 5 happy to be home for holidays
“There’s no place like home for the holidays,” is a popular Christmas line for a reason.
Nothing quite compares to being with your family in a familiar setting while you enjoy the merriment of the holidays. Unfortunately, some people also know what it’s like to go without that.
Hannah, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, happens to be one of those people. A mother of five, Hannah is working on getting her life back on track after spending two years without a place to live.
“We’re pretty much just getting back on our feet. We were homeless for two years and for almost a year of that I was pregnant. I have five children now,” said Hannah.
Hannah explained that while their family was without a home, her two youngest children were not only separated from her, but from each other as well.
“All four of my kids were together and lost their house and I had to send my two oldest kids with their father. My youngest ended up in foster care and split up. We finally got into the shelter and just recently they were back together. This is their first Christmas together in two years,” said Hannah.
After residing in the shelter, and children so young, Christmas lists can be a difficult task to tackle. She says her two youngest have hopes for a Nintendo DS and a camera.
“We don’t really have much planned for Christmas, just being together,” said Hannah.
Now in its 27th year, Operation Holiday has provided a brighter holiday season to thousands of families with children. Last year more than $50,000 in donations allowed the program to provide food and gifts for 144 families with 447 children in need.
The program was created and exists for children. The mission of Operation Holiday is to ensure that children of the Pottstown area have food to eat and gifts to open, no matter how poor or difficult their family situation may be.
There is no overhead with Operation Holiday and all funds stay in the Pottstown area. Families are referred by more than 20 local agencies and churches.
Funds are collected and audited in a non-profit foundation account managed by staff of The Mercury.
Food, which includes the fixings for a holiday dinner as well as staples for the pantry, is ordered, bought, packed and distributed by Mercury employees and Pottstown High School student government volunteers.
Gift cards for every child in the program 16 years of age or younger are purchased through Boscov’s and distributed in partnership with the referring agencies.
Operation Holiday does not accept families who have not been referred by an agency in order to protect the integrity of the program.
Operation Holiday is funded solely by readers’ contributions. All contributions are tax deductible.
Contributions may be mailed or brought to the offices of The Mercury, Attn: Operation Holiday, 24 N. Hanover St., Pottstown, PA 19464. Make checks payable to Operation Holiday.