Sponsor-a-Family is a unique program supported solely through donations and would not be possible without the generosity of community members. Volunteers are essential to the success of the program. Each year, volunteers spend several days sorting food and gifts. Once the sorting is completed, bags of food for the families and gifts for the children are packed and delivered. Delivery day this year is December 18, 2013.
Applications were mailed to families identified to be low income in Geauga County. Applications are available to eligible families at Geauga County Job and Family Services during normal business hours.
To make a donation, sponsor a family, volunteer time, or for any additional information on the Geauga County Sponsor-a-Family program, contact program coordinator Sara Shininger at 440-285-9141, ext. 1263. Monetary donations are accepted. Checks must be made payable to Special Services and may be mailed to P.O. Box 309, Chardon, Ohio 44024. Please indicate Sponsor a Family in the memo portion of the check. New toys, coats and other donations are accepted at Geauga County Job and Family Services, 12480 Ravenwood Drive, Chardon.
“Sponsor-a-Family” is the holiday program that provides food and gifts to low income families and seniors in Geauga County. For more than 40 years, Geauga County Job and Family Services has coordinated the Sponsor-a-Family Program during the holiday season. When it first began, Sponsor-a- Family provided about 24 families with Christmas food baskets. Last year, 601 families, from every geographic location in the county, received help through the Sponsor-a-Family program. This included over 1,208 children who received toys, gifts. In addition, approximately 10,000 pounds of food was donated, sorted, packed, and delivered.
