Every year the Child Advocacy Center comes alive with the true spirit of the holidays as Santa’s helpers sponsor needy families for Christmas. 

The sponsors are often very humble and want no recognition for their good deeds.  One sponsor who requested to remain anonymous said, “"We have been blessed this year, no catastrophic events in our family.  We sponsor a family every year.  It is something we just do to give back."

Many of the families served by the Child Advocacy Center are struggling to provide Christmas gifts for their children. 

“When your child is sexually abused it can turn your world upside down- emotionally and financially,” said Jennifer Gamble, the Child Advocacy Center Family Services Coordinator. 

Families often have to move, change schools, pay attorney fees to keep the abusive parent away from the child, and lose the perpetrator’s income when the perpetrator is incarcerated.

One of the mothers said to Cannon County Coordinator Amanda Pruitt, “You don’t know what this means to my family.  I have been preparing my 10 year old not to get anything, but now she is so excited that she will have a Christmas.”

A mother said to Gamble, “My children are being sponsored this year and I am able to relax.  It is so nice to have one less thing to worry about, especially right now.  I have never been able to relax this time of the year and it is just a blessing to be able to for once". 

Andy Johnson summed up the attitude of the many of the holiday sponsors when he said, “I’m in.  Give me names.  Every kid deserves a good Christmas.”

For information on how you can get involved and be a Secret Santa to an abused child, contact the Child Advocacy Center of Rutherford County at (615) 867-9000 or the Cannon County Child Advocacy Center at (616) 563-9915.