By Marisa Dawson
This holiday season, one of Bennington’s own Kindergarten teachers at Bennington Public Schools is once again leading the charge to make Christmas brighter for local families in need, with the support of the Bennington Bennington Public Schools Foundation. Candi DeLancey, a familiar face in our classrooms and a 25-year veteran of holiday giving, is spearheading the Bennington Adopted Families program – an effort that brought joy to 15 families and 32 children last year alone.
What started years ago with the Jaycees and a simple “Jeans for Others” fundraiser (now called Comfy Clothes for Kids) has grown into a heartfelt community-wide initiative. “Two years ago, I asked if the Foundation would advertise for me to see if we could get community members to adopt families so I could help more families in our community,” DeLancey shared. When someone reaches out to Blake Thompson at the Foundation, he forwards the inquiry to DeLancey, who personally connects donors with families and gathers clothing sizes and Christmas wishes.
Adopting a family typically means providing 2–4 outfits per child (including socks and shoes), a few toys, and helpful household essentials like toilet paper, laundry detergent, shampoo and toothpaste – items that stretch tight budgets this time of year. While the financial ask varies by family size, Candi happily pairs donors together for larger families. “For the larger families, I connect two or more community members that were interested to share a family so it’s not so expensive,” she explained. Groups, businesses, Sunday school classes or neighborhoods are all encouraged to team up if that’s what it takes to let a family know they’re loved.
When asked why she pours countless hours into this work each year, Candi’s answer was simple yet powerful: “I’ve seen the difference it’s made over all these years. I’ve seen the excitement in the children’s faces. I’ve felt numerous hugs from the parents as they are thanking me for helping their family. There are no words that can state the feeling those parents are experiencing and the appreciation they share with me. Feeling their emotions of thankfulness is why I continue to try to help more families every year. It’s a lot of work and tons of hours to complete all of this by myself but it’s so worth it!”
If you, your family, workplace or group would like to adopt a Bennington family this Christmas, reach out today to Candi DeLancey (cdelancey@bennps.org) or Blake Thompson (bthompson@bennps.org). Every child and every act of kindness counts!
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