As the holidays approach, we often forget there are so many youth who are detained, in placement or simply away from their families. There were 50,821 youth in some type of facility in 2014, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency and Prevention reported.
Even though some young people can't be home during the holiday season, they should never feel alone. Many youth-serving agencies provide a celebration and recognition of the holidays in December, due to compassion for all youth and their needs. This year, explore creative holiday ideas to let young people who can’t be at home know they are loved and have not been forgotten. You don’t have to be an employee or a facility that services youth to make a difference.
Annually, Lead4Life, Inc. is only one of many organizations that tries to do just that: Among others, our agency goes into the Alfred D. Noyes Children’s Center in Rockville, Maryland, to provide a holiday party for detained youth. We have a wonderful church that sponsors us, as well as a solid group of volunteers. We collect socks, ChapStick, hats, gloves, playing cards, hygiene products and crossword puzzles as gifts. Each young person gets an individualized card showing there is a large community of people who really care about them and wish them peace. We have a celebration with food, music, arts and crafts. Each youth is presented with their gifts at the end of the evening.
[For more of this story, written by Jennifer Gauthier, go to http://jjie.org/2016/12/07/way...this-holiday-season/]
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