NEWTON, MASS. (WHDH) - Volunteers packed up presents for kids in need Tuesday as part of the annual Wonderfund Holiday Gift Drive.
Former Massachusetts First Lady Lauren Baker is leading the organization on its holiday mission.
“Today, every person who buys a gift online or delivers a gift is making hope and fulfilling dreams for a child who’s going through some really, really tough stuff,” Baker said.
Since 2017, Wonderfund has provided emergency essentials to children in traumatic situations. The organization hopes to provide presents for 50,000 kids and teens currently being assisted by the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families.
“These kids didn’t choose to be engaged with the child welfare system, and so anything we can do to give them hope, to make them feel loved and cared for, to make them feel seen, is really, really important. And today, we’re sending thousands of gifts out for kids and it makes a huge difference,” Baker said. “And for the volunteers, it’s a way of giving back that really means something.”
The volunteers sorted hundreds of toys into bags that will be distributed across the commonwealth.
“The gifts that we receive are taken to the 29 DCF area offices around the commonwealth. And the social workers make it possible for wish lists to be fulfilled. Some of them create a little store inside their office. They all do it different ways,” Baker said.
Baker said she knows how much a little kindness means, especially during the holidays. She said every gift matters, and that there’s still time to bring some holiday joy to those who need it most.
“This is an opportunity for the social workers of DCF and the parents of these children to be able to go to a DCF office and shop for the gifts that their children want, so that every child engaged with the child welfare system gets a gift chosen specifically for them,” Baker said.
“There’s still plenty of time, there’s thousands of kids who need to have gifts chosen for them, so if you would like to, go on wonderfundma.org today or anytime in the next week or so, and purchase a gift, and it will come to us and we will make sure that it gets to a child,” she continued.
If you’d like to find out more about how you can help with the Wonderfund Holiday Gift Drive, visit wonderfundma.org/get-involved/holiday-gift-drive.
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