Tis’ the Season to Adopt a Family and Make Their Holidays Bright

La Crosse County's "For Goodness Sake Project" is an annual holiday gift program where members of our community, businesses, and organizations sponsor individuals or families. Thanks to all those who helped with volunteering opportunities at Airfest, Riverfest, Country Boom and Oktoberfest, Rotary After Hours was able to use a portion of the money earned to help make a difference this Christmas. We used $1000 of the funds to sponsor a single mom with a 16-year-old daughter and a 10-year-old son. A tragic death recently struck the family and after recovering from the devastating blow, they are starting a new chapter of their lives in a new town. Our club was also awarded a new member grant in the 2020-21 year (thank you Rotary District 6250) in which the newer members chose to spend half the grant funds ($500) on adopting an additional family. A teen girl was living with her grandma who recently passed away and is now living with her uncle. 
 
On Wednesday, December 8th RAHtarians shopped at Target and Kohl's, picking out toys, clothes, and household items for the two families.
The following evening, RAHtarians gathered to wrap all the presents that were purchased. 

Amy Schmidt says "I'm so grateful to be part of a club giving back to local families this season. Also, glad to practice my bow making 🙂."

We've worked hard to raise this money throughout the year and were so excited to give back and put the funds to good use! We hope we made Christmas a little brighter this year for these two families.

Thank you Justin G. and metre for letting us transform your space into Santa’s workshop for the night and to Katelyn and Amy for getting us organized!