Please Help: Operation Band-Aid

I wish I had time to prepare a more in-depth list for you all to read, but as Christmas is drawing ever closer, I'm pressed for time to make our ministry's requests known. Here is a run-down of what the needs are for the families we're trying to help this Christmas. I wish I could personally assist from my own pocket. My heart breaks as I see that even the most basic things, like pajamas, shoes, hair accessories and nutritious meal are hard to come by for these families.

If you are as moved as I am as you read these lists, I urge you to please, give in to the giving spirit of the Christmas season. Donating is easy, and your gifts are tax deductible. Just click on the Donate button to send a contribution. Or, you can contact our organization via email AddictionOvercome.INC@gmail.com.

Thank you so much for your generosity! May God bless you this Christmas season.

Apple family:

Mom -- 36 -- pill addict living with parents once more in a not-good situation -- wears baggie shorts and sport type shirts with collars. A size 12 or so.

Needs gas cards, grocery cards, meal/restaurant cards, Starbuck cards, movie cards with enough for concessions for the kids, NO CASH.

Daughter -- 15 -- tall and thin; lanky. Long hair she is very proud of. Wears sizes 5 and 7 tall. Loves jewelry and perfume and make-up. Needs some gift cards of her own for places like Target and Mervyn's and Payless shoes and Starbucks and Cold Stone Creamery. Would really like a new purse.

Son -- 11 -- plays football. Size 14 -16 hefty boys. Needs football cleats, size 5 1/2 mens or large boys. Needs clothes to play hard in, like jeans and cargo pants with polo shirts and clean bright t-shirts as well as socks and underwear with undershirts. Dreams of DX Box from Nintendo. Wants to get his mom something pretty for Christmas.

Son -- 6 -- likes Sponge Bob. Likes to build things like Play Mobiles and legos. Likes musical instruments like bongo drums and play guitars. Wears a size 7/8 boys. Needs pj's, underwear, socks, jeans, sweat shirts, polo shirts, etc. He likes video games and would like a Nintendo Gameboy.

Live in the Peoria area.

Blueberry family:

Mom -- 35 -- meth addict staying in a halfway house for abused women and children. Short and a size 8 to 10. Needs clothes suitable for job interviews and work in an office. Needs a gift card for new shoes at Payless or Target. Needs gift cards to buy her children gifts from her for the holidays. Again, Target is perfect for such a goal. Would love to have perfume and make-up, so a gift card to a nice place, like Nordstrom's or Options or Aveda or Ulta II would be great as they have hair care products as well as bath stuff. These would be great coming from her children as well.

Daughter #1 -- 16 -- two years behind in school. Athletic and petite. Size 4 - 6/ juniors 5 - 7. Likes typical girl stuff at that age: purses, shoes, makeup, perfume, a nice haircut or highlighting (at any salon, or Ulta II).

Daughter #2 -- 14 -- also two years behind in school. Size 3 -5 in juniors. Very attuned to mom and mom's pain. Assigned herself as protector of mom and family. Shy and athletic. Likes to read. Reluctant to get involved at school because of the pain found at home. Has no genuine desires of the heart, other than to have peace in her family and her dad gone. Needs jeans and tennis shoes, girl shirts and jackets, haircut and perfume, some make-up but doesn't want to stand out as older than her classmates. Wants to get her mom something special this year.

Son -- 4 -- likes trucks and loves fire trucks. Loves story books and putting things together like small kid PlayMobiles and Duplos. Needs jammies and socks, play clothes and underwear, shoes and a jacket. Size 5.

Cherry family:

Grandma -- mid-60's, -- claims she needs and wants nothing. Could use some time to herself with dying daughter and granddaughter who must be cared for in her absence. How to accomplish this? I'm not sure. Perhaps provide grandma with some gift cards to places like Chili's or Applebee's where she can take a friend to dinner close to her house, as she has no transportation.

Grandma also needs grocery cards in the worst way. Her meals come largely from soup kitchens and meals on wheels. Money is so tight, it barely covers the rent-reduced one bedroom apt they all three share; mother and daughter in one room with a hospital bed, grandma in the living room on a fold-out sofa. She needs things spruced up a bit to add cheer to an otherwise sad and hopeless setting. Gift cards to Target and K-mart would be in order.

Daughter -- 38, end-stage MS, dying and bed-ridden -- size 8 to 10. In need of adult diapers (Mediums), dressing gowns, nightshirts, etc... also perfumes and nice-smelling soaps. Her daughter would like to get her nice cards and some books on tape to listen to. She does not own a Walkman to play such books, so that is the perfect gift for this woman. Mocassin boots would be something very comfortable and special that the daughter would like to give her mom.

Child -- 12 -- small for her age. Size 12 in childrens, zero or 1 in women's or juniors. She needs everything imaginable. Clothes, shoes, make-up, hair stuff, hair cuts, Cold Stone cards, movie cards, grocery cards as grandma seems incapable of supplying nutritious foods to the home. This is a resourceful child, which serves her well and also not-so-well in many situations. She uses city bus tokens and is actually quite popular at school.

She needs shoes, socks, kid bras, undies, jammies, robe, jacket, hat, scarf, skirts, pants, tops, dresses, etc... so Target cards are good, as are Mervyn's and JC Penney, Macy's, Dillards, and K-Mart/Sears. I know she would like to get her mom something nice, but has no idea what that is.

They live in central Phoenix, very close to the Duck and Decanter, where they've never been and to the 5 and Diner on 16th Street.

Date Family:

I don't have many details about this family except to know that mom is a pill addict and dad is oblivious. Both are currently unemployed. There are two children, both in school -- the boy is 16 and the girl is 12. They are large children for their ages, so I'm imagining men's, size large for him and junior's sized Med and Lg for her; women's sizes Small and Medium. They can use gift cards and restaurant cards, movie cards and gas cards. For their parents, they can buy gifts off of the same cards and within the same perameters. The daughter would like make-up and girlish hair things. The son would enjoy some sporting equipment and clothing.

They live in the Tempe area.

ALL OF THESE FAMILIES NEED A HOLIDAY MEAL FOR BOTH THANKSGIVING AND CHRISTMAS. I will be happy to pick up meals at AJ's, Fry's, Basha's, Boston Market, Village Inn, and Marie Calender's. Many of these need to be pre-ordered and pre-paid.

Thank you for any help you can provide Addiction Overcome, Inc. in bringing the joy of the holidays to these hurting families. Your gifts will be returned manyfold.

Sincerely,

Judith

Judith Ann Hillard
Author of The Other Woman at the Well