Contacts:
Lester Holmes: (216) 881-4598; LesterHolmes@jfs.ohio.gov

CUYAHOGA COUNTY, OH – The Cuyahoga County Division of Children and Family Services (DCFS) is seeking community support to provide holiday cheer for children in foster and kinship care.

Community residents can help by donating gifts for the Hope for the Holidays program, an annual gift program for children and teens in foster care. More than 4,000 youth are expected to receive gifts this holiday season. There is a particular need to purchase more African American dolls as studies have indicated that doll play can increase self-esteem and ideals of beauty in children.

Donors can visit Cuyahoga County Health and Human Services website at https://hhs.cuyahogacounty.us/, and click on the “Donate Now” tab to view the Target gift wish list registry. Simply order your gifts online and have them shipped to the DCFS office located at 3955 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44115.

Donors can also purchase toys and personally deliver the gifts to the DCFS office on Wednesday, December 1st. Please email dcfsoutreach@jfs.ohio.gov to schedule your drop-off appointment. All gifts must be received by the agency by December 1st.

The gifts will be passed out during a special drive-thru event for foster care families on Saturday, December 11th.

In addition to providing gifts for foster care youth, DCFS also provides gifts for more than 200 kinship families through the Adopt-A-Family program.

For this program, community members are encouraged to “adopt” a family by purchasing a $50 e-gift card for each child as well as $50 e-gift card as a gift for the entire family.

Donors in the Adopt-A-Family program must register online at https://hhs.cuyahogacounty.us/. After registration, donors will receive basic information about their families such as the number of children, their ages and genders. The outreach staff will forward your gift card purchase to the families in need and the donors will be notified once their families receive the gift cards.

For more information about the Hope for the Holidays and Adopt-A Family programs, email dcfsoutreach@jfs.ohio.gov or call 216-881-4150.