For the 17th year in a row, Domestic Violence Intervention Services (DVIS) distributed gifts to families in need the week of December 13th. Sponsors, volunteers, and agency staff came together over the last couple of months to support fifty-eight local families that otherwise may not have had gifts to exchange this holiday season.
Staff nominated clients and helped them fill out lists. Those lists were then anonymously distributed to community sponsors.
Thirty-eight organizations, families, and individuals signed up to adopt families, and according to DVIS Volunteer Coordinator Shelby Hamon, some would have sponsored even more. “We had more folks wanting to sponsor than families this year – it was incredible.”
After sponsors dropped off their gifts, almost forty volunteers spent just shy of 130 hours wrapping the presents.
The holiday season can be a stressful time for all of us, but it can be especially difficult for survivors rebuilding lives affected by violence.
“Many of our clients are facing some of the most difficult situations in their lives, and a majority of them have children that they want to give a happy, normal childhood,” said DVIS CEO Tracey Lyall. “Empowering survivors to provide for their loved ones as they work to escape an abusive situation is huge. It tells them, ‘I can do this.’”
Thank you, Tulsa, for your support! Please reach out to Shelby at shamon@dvis.org if you are interested in sponsoring next year.