A local church taking a stand to help ensure that teenagers in need are not overlooked during the holiday season. Many children living in foster care struggle and many times older children are forgotten or overlooked. There are 775 teenagers living in foster care system in Franklin County.
“There are a lot of people who want to buy toys and have fun shopping for little kids, but a lot of times teenagers get left out,” said Dionna Carter of One Church.
The officials of One Church have decided to try and make a difference and hope to put at least one $25 gift card in the hands of every single foster teen.
One Church has partnered with Franklin County Children’s Services, and are collecting Amazon, Target, fast food restaurants, among others retailers teens like at both their Gahanna (817 N. Hamilton Rd.) and Northwest Columbus (1290 Old Henderson Rd.) church services.
They will be collecting donations starting this Saturday November 23 through December 15. The Gahanna church has services Saturdays at 6:00 p.m. and Sundays at 8:30, 10, and 11:30 a.m. The Northwest Columbus church as service at 10 a.m. on Sundays.
“This is still a crucial age [and] a lot of times these teenagers removed from their parents for one reason or another, and they don’t have that support, so they going through these difficult situations and don’t have the parental guidance that they need,” said Carter. “We want them to know that ‘you don’t become less important just because you’re getting older.’”
One Church is inviting the public to help them include handwritten cards with the gifts! The church will be open for the custom cards on November 23 and December 15th.
If you have any questions? Email obv@one.church or CLICK HERE for more information.
Source: NBC4i
