By Ron Stafford
During this holiday season many families are making shopping lists of what to buy their children for Christmas. Many other families find they do not have the resources to buy gifts for their children. Adopt-A-Bear helps to fill that void. Led this year by Jesse Parks with Stevensville-based KRM Development Corporation and Heather Tinelli, owner of Shore Accountants in Chester, the program is looking for volunteers and for donations to bring smiles to these children on Christmas morning.
Adopt-A-Bear is a program that provides Christmas gifts to children in the local community. Started in 1991 when it served only 30 children, the program has grown to serve over one thousand children in Queen Anne’s and neighboring counties. Adopt-A-Bear works closely with schools, family support centers, and other organizations to identify children who are truly in need.
In 2010, the program was in danger of collapsing due to lack of contributions and lack of volunteer support. Jesse and Heather, members of the Queen Anne’s County Chamber of Commerce Young Professionals, knew that something had to be done. Both were born and raised on the Eastern Shore. Jesse has a background in commercial real estate development and Heather’s background is in accounting. The two had to make some tough decisions in order to keep the Adopt-A-Bear program alive. Heather offered, “We were challenged with the number of children in need. In order not to jeopardize the entire program, we decided to serve only Queen Anne’s County.”
The Adopt-A-Bear process starts with local schools and the Head Start program referring children who are in need. Information is gathered about clothing sizes and special requests and stored in a database. Volunteers then place Christmas trees decorated with Bear Tag ornaments in various businesses and organizations around the county. On the back of each ornament is the child’s name, clothing size and any special requests. Anyone interested can take a bear tag and then return the gift items to the original location. Jesse and Heather ask that gifts not be wrapped so the inventory can be updated. The gifts are then wrapped and delivered to agencies for final distribution. Heather says, “It’s an invisible pipeline; everything is confidential. We have no overhead, so all monies collected are used to purchase gifts and all donated gifts go directly to the child.”
Adopt-A-Bear currently has 5 to 10 volunteers, but many more are needed. Who can help with this program? Heather answers, “Anyone can help, especially high school students. It’s fun for them, and it’s something that directly affects both them and those they are helping. We can use help in distributing tags and trees, collecting and wrapping gift packages, and finally delivering to the appropriate location.” Everyone including businesses and individuals can encourage friends, family and co-workers to Adopt-A-Bear or to make donations to help fill a child’s Christmas dream. There is something that everyone can do. Jesse says, “There are different areas that help is needed ranging from marketing, database entry, and others.” Heather adds, “This is a great way that you help out during this holiday season.”
The bear tree distribution is already underway. The deadline to return gifts to the tag site is December 2. Inventory is taken through December 12, at which time the gifts are wrapped and then delivered to the agencies for distribution. For more information on how you can get involved with Adopt-A-Bear, contact Jesse Parks at 410-604-2622 or Heather Tinelli at 410-604-0004. You also can visit their website at www.adopt-a-bear.net or send an email to Heather at heather@adpot-a-bear.net.