The Forgotten Child Fund helps all year long
The holiday season has officially come to an end. It’s a new year and Santa is long gone, on the beach in Barbados for a month before grinding out toys for next year. Resolutions of fitness and balanced diets are already beginning to fade into forgotten fairy tales.
The holidays can be a time of staggering consumerism and mass consumption, the intent of the season often lost in corporatism’s forced guilt trip of materialistic excess. It is increasingly important in our social climate to take opportunities to remind ourselves of our community as a greater whole, and our ability to strive for betterment.
We take plenty of time to explore the greater sides of Chattanooga, a city that earns its wonderful reputation honestly and with stout integrity. However, not everything that happens here starts off as a happy story.
More important than anything we receive during the year, we must remember that giving is the true gift and joy of life. Chattanooga tends to rise up and transform these less than pleasant stories and situations into hopeful examples of progress and change in our world.
The Forgotten Child Fund is an organization made up of public servants from the Chattanooga Fire and Police Departments, Hamilton Country Sheriff’s, Hamilton Country Emergency Services, and civilian volunteers. They have the ambitious mission of ensuring that all children in our community are able to enjoy Christmas and have a memorable experience.
It may seem a bit odd to talk about a holiday charity right after Christmas is over, but I believe that it’s just as important today as it is every other day of the year. The ideals of giving and charity in our hearts need not be based on an ancient calendar or a variable lunar event. Sharing is a foundational aspect of civilization and there is no better time to continue opening our hearts than right now.
“In 2018, we served over 11,500 children in the tri-state area, ensuring that these children were able to celebrate the Christmas holiday,” says Lieutenant Austin Garrett. “The Forgotten Child Fund strives to serve our community’s children during Christmas by providing gifts to needy families who otherwise would not experience the magic and excitement of waking up Christmas morning to a visit from Santa.”
For more information, visit forgottenchildfund.org and make a donation today. If a financial donation isn’t in the books, donating your time can often be even more valuable. The organization is run entirely by volunteers and donations from the community.
Groups such as Sunday school classes, scout troops, cheerleaders, and groups from corporations already volunteer their time, but there is plenty of room for more help. Together, we can start our support now and throughout the year so that every child in our community feels warmth and love and joy.
The Season of Giving never needed to be a burden restricted to November and December. We can all come together and help whenever we can to transform the lives of those around us.
— Alex Curry, City Editor