The Holidays are upon us so its time to think of our friends at the Children’s Home Society. For about ten years 1stUUPB has collected gift cards for the teens and young mothers they serve.

The younger children there often receive gifts, but the older children are often forgotten. We provide $10.00 gift cards from Walmart or Target. These cards will be used to buy gifts they have requested or allow the teens to shop for themselves. The gifts from 1stUUPB  have been very generous, and the cards have been greatly appreciated.  Please see Judy Bonner or Sam Irwin, or drop the $10.00 gift cards in the collection plate on Sunday.

The Children’s Home Society, whose mission is to “Building bridges to success for children,” helps a needy segment of Florida’s population. About 23% of Florida’s kids, nearly one million children, live in extreme poverty, while roughly 20% suffer from a mental illness, and 25% will suffer abuse or neglect. CHS finds this situation unacceptable. To reshape the future, CHS is working upstream to build bridges to success for these children through innovative solutions in foster care management.

The Children’s Home Society has been in operation in Florida since 1902.  That first year CHS cared for 34 children, and as of 2017 CHS has helped finalize more than 50,000 adoptions and empowered more than 1 million children and family members to success.