2013
Matching gifts to a family’s needs
An earlier December 2013 appeal described the Church of the Epiphany Social Action Committee working with five social-service agencies in Harlem. Donors could obtain a family’s requested items and provide gifts for the holiday collection.
The project linked the wishes of individual families with a neighborhood able to respond. The agency count belongs to this 2013 appeal; the partnership’s later accounts describe their own arrangements.
The Adopt a Family project was one of the recurring relationships within Neighbors Helping Neighbors. The Gramercy Park Block Association’s December 2015 report named Epiphany Church as the partner connecting neighborhood donations with social-service agencies in Harlem.
The report pictured Epiphany volunteer Virginia Urban collecting donated toys, books and learning materials from Arlene Harrison. The participating agencies served families through emergency shelter, housing, family-health and violence-prevention services.
Adopt a Family appeared again in the Block Association’s 2017 Giving Tuesday letter, among its holiday projects.
The project sits alongside Paddy Maguire’s toy drive, Nazareth Housing and the school-supply collections. These are historical accounts; the Block Association can advise on current opportunities to help.