Since 1993, the Warm the Children program has provided new winter clothing to needy children in Tucker County. The Warm the Children program is essentially neighbors helping neighbors and is a collaborative effort between several local organizations. The process starts every fall with the North Central WV Community Action, St. George Clinic, all the school counselors and school nurses referring children to the Tucker County Family Resource Network, which then compiles a list of all the referred children. The Family Resource Network then coordinates with all the families and schedules everyone a time to go shopping. Sandra Bohon from the Family Resource Network then meets the families at Walmart in Elkins to pick out winter clothes for the children. Mikie Dumire at The Parsons Advocate collects donations from the public year-round and gives the money to the Tucker Community Foundation to manage. Tucker Community Foundation then gives the yearly allotment of funds to the Family Resource Network before they go shopping with the families every fall.
Michael Moore, Executive Director, at the Tucker Community Foundation said “Warm the Children is an amazing program. The problem is that over the last few years the number of referred children has gone up dramatically and the donations from the public have gone down dramatically. This year 192 children were referred to the program and the allotment for this year only covered roughly 105 children. Luckily, Family Resource Network was able to secure funding from other sources to cover the rest of the children. If donations do not increase, within four or five years the program will be out of funds and cease to exist. So, we are asking the public if you can afford to donate please donate to this wonderful program to keep our children warm throughout the winter.”
Sandra Bohon from the Family Resource Network said “Taking the families shopping is a very humbling experience and they are so grateful for the help.” One of the participating families said “I love this program, may God bless the people who run it and all those who donate to it.”
There are no administrative fees, all of the organizations involved absorb all promotional and administrative costs. So, 100 percent of all donations go directly to buy new clothing for the children. If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation, Warm the Children collects donations year-round. Donations can be made to TCF – Warm the Children Fund and sent to the Parsons Advocate, P.O. Box 345, Parsons, WV. Online donations can be made at www.tuckerfoundation.net
