Local United Way’s Adopt-A-Family seeks last few adoptions for Christmas

With almost 90 families on their list, they still have a handful that need to be adopted.

LOWNDES COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – United Way of Lowndes and Noxubee Counties is preparing for the busy holiday season, and the Adopt-A-Family program is one of the big projects.

With almost 90 families on their list, they still have a handful that need to be adopted.

WCBI spoke with some families who will be recipients of the Adopt-A-Family program.

WCBI asked 5-year-old Dream Wilson and 7-year-old Lyfe Wilson what they wanted for Christmas.

“Umm, a tennis ball,” Dream Wilson said.

“A Nintendo Switch,” Lyfe Wilson said. Programs like Adopt-A-Family are making sure that the Wilson children will have their Christmas wishes fulfilled this year.

With more than 20 families left on the Adopt-A-Family list, Executive Director Renee Sanders is asking the community to help others.

“If you work with some other colleagues you can go in with your co-workers and adopt a family. If you worship at a worship center and there are more than just two of you at that worship center you can adopt a family. You can just split the family between your congregation,” Sanders said.

Sanders said the families on their list were chosen because they’ve found themselves burdened with unforeseen circumstances.

“We are looking for families that have had something happen that is beyond their control. A fire could care less about your financial stability. Cancer could care less about how much money you have in the bank. The people on our list are not always poor they are just in need right now,” Sanders said.

Paul Cross and Daphne Warren-Cross are the grandparents to Luvv, Lyfe, and Dream Wilson.

While they are the ones who usually give back, they needed help from their community this year.

“We had to get emergency custody of them and it was either that or they go into the system and no, I did not want them to go into the system. You never know what’s going to happen. I would have never foreseen us raising three kids again,” Warren-Cross said.

14-year-old Luvv Wilson said she is thankful her grandparents were able to step in to be their guardian.

“It’s a blessing to know that I am safe and they are taking care of me better than the situation that I was in,” Luvv Wilson said.

They are just one family that was adopted this year, and they hope the community can come together and help other families in need.

“The organization is a big part of the community. They need help just like we do. A lot of people don’t understand the things that these organizations do for families that don’t have,” Paul Cross said.

If you would like to be a part of adopting those last few families, go to United Way’s website

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