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Poway Unified’s ‘Adopt-A-Family’ holiday program launches

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Want to give back to the community this holiday season? Poway Unified School District’s Adopt-A-Family program is looking for donors.

The Adopt-A-Family program, which is in its third year since returning to district overview, provides Christmas gifts to between 450 and 500 families in need every year. It is handled by the Palomar Council PTA.

Dorinda Soucek, chair of the program, said she expects the number of families to be about the same this year.

Families are nominated to the program by each of the 39 schools in the district. Soucek said the program’s intention is to provide for families near or below the poverty line.

Soucek said she is within two weeks of having all the families’ names and wish lists. “I have donors already eager and waiting,” she said. She currently has about 100 families on the list.

More will be needed, however, to help all the families have a happy holiday, and there are a variety of ways to donate.

One way is to adopt a family. By adopting a family, you will receive a wish list with items wanted by the children in the family (gifts are only provided to children, not adults).

“The families choose what they want,” said Soucek. Some families want only gift cards, while others list everything from clothing and toys to food and cleaning supplies.

Soucek’s aim is for each child to receive $75 worth of gifts, whether they be physical gifts or gift cards for groceries, gas or stores like Target and Walmart.

If you don’t feel like you can provide for an entire family, there are also single-person families available, said Soucek, including homeless teenagers in the district, as well as teens who are living on their ow

n.

Soucek is also looking for monetary donations and donations of gift cards, which will be used to supplement gifts for families who aren’t adopted or don’t receive the goal amount from their adopted families. “We try to keep everything as even as possible,” said Soucek.

Donors will receive their adopted family’s wishlist before Thanksgiving, said Soucek, and she will be collecting items and monetary donations between Thursday, Dec. 3 and Monday, Dec. 7.

For more information or to donate, contact Dorinda Soucek at 858-602-6312 or pusdadoptafamily@gmail.com.

Monetary donations can be mailed to PUSD Adopt A Family, 13626 Twin Peaks Road, Poway, CA 92064. Please make checks payable to Palomar Council PTA. All monetary donations will go to families in need.

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