Thank you for considering Family & Children Services for your holiday giving. Family & Children Services offers several ways to assist low-income children, youth, adults, and families during the winter holiday season. These include:

• Adopt A Family – We will make a match based on your preferences of family size and location. Our families in need are grateful for books, toys, clothes, gift cards, and more.
• Gifts for youth exiting foster care – These youth are setting up their first apartments, starting jobs, and continuing their educations – all on their own. Our Independent Living Program provides them with encouragement, living skills education, and referrals to resources to help. Gift cards help them buy sheets and towels, household items, work clothes, and other necessities.
• Gifts for high-need children in childcare – We have therapists who provide mental health assessment and care in childcare centers serving children from low-income, high-need families. These children need learning toys and games, books, and warm clothes and shoes.
• Gifts for adults – We serve adults who are struggling to make ends meet. Our clients also include men and women with AIDS or HIV. Most of these clients cannot work and they have high need for grocery gift cards, warm blankets and clothing, bath products, and toys for their children.
• Fulfilling wishes for program supplies – Donating supplies our staff needs for working with clients impacts the treatment of many. Staff wishes range from clay and markers to projectors and fire alarms designed for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.
• Cash donations to support our client services – We can always put donations to good use in serving our clients. For example, donations make it possible for us to provide mental health care for as long as clients need, at well below our costs of providing the care.
• Fulfilling wishes from our client and program.

* Lists of gift suggestions and needs will be provided.

Thank you to Nordstrom at Stanford Shopping Center and the TurningWheels for Kids Foundation for brightening the holidays of many of our young clients in 2009.

For more information
Please contact Maryanne McGlothlin at 650-326-6576 or info@fcservices.org, or by completing our online Contact Form.

Some comments from families:
"This is all for us? Really?" a nine-year-old boy whose parents are served in our counseling program.

"I had been very worried about the kind of Christmas they were going to have. This is wonderful. The generosity is amazing," a grandmother whose son's family was 'adopted' for the holidays.

" These blankets look so warm. My children will sleep well these cold nights," a mother.

In May, three special events were held to raise funds for and awareness of the work of Family & Children Services. Increasing resources for our work with at-risk youth was a particular focus. . . . more