BRANDON, Fla. — From decorating the tree to visiting Santa to opening presents, there are dozens of activities we think of when it comes to Christmas.
Unfortunately, there are some children living in our community who have never experienced any of them. But the nonprofit organization A Kid's Place is working hard to meet those needs.
Currently, 55 children call A Kid's Place in Brandon home. This week, they got to participate in a special Christmas activity: gingerbread houses.
From licorice to gummy bears to candy canes and so much more, these kids learned that making a gingerbread house can be creative and yummy.
Nine-year-old Lexi enjoyed eating the candy more than decorating the actual house.
“It is a big deal. Kids in foster care, it's really difficult because sometimes they’ve never been exposed to things. I have kids who have never had a birthday celebrated, or they never had a Christmas tree when they woke up on Christmas morning and all these amazing gifts from Santa,” said Developmental Director Samantha Mellen.
Mellen said that for many of these children, like Lexi, all they really want for Christmas is to be reunited with their families. However, the reality is that the average stay at A Kid's Place is two years.
“Kids here have come from a challenging background; you know, there are families going through a very difficult time. There may be some substance abuse, some physical or mental abuse,” said Mellen.
So, the nonprofit does all it can to make its campus feel like a loving home, especially during the holidays.
“This room right now is actually turning into Santa’s headquarters. We’ll be wrapping gifts for 55 children and everything gets wrapped,” said Mellen during a tour of the campus.
None of these presents or activities would be possible without the support from the community.
“Our community partners and our donors, you are making Christmas happen. You are our Christmas miracle,” said Mellen. “When they come in with these truckloads full of toys, and they’ve been on the hunt for that specific item, whether it’s Legos, or a stuffed animal, or the marshmallows that are really popular this year.”
A Kid's Place is currently raising money for a brand new, 12,000-square-foot activity center set to break ground in February.
“And that activity center is going to have a large gathering area where we can all be one family together, we can have dinner together, we can have award ceremonies together,” said Mellen.
The children living at A Kid's Place appreciate the generosity just as much.
“I’m very thankful for the donors to do that for us,” said Lexi.
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