Costa Mesa, CA — We anticipated the pandemic significantly impacting our seasonal programs. Our planning required us to consider many options in delivering our 2020 Adopt A Family Program. However, an option that we knew we didn’t have was cancelling the program altogether. The pandemic caused an increase of basic and necessary needs. Many families experienced adverse domino effects of COVID-19 infections, job losses, housing insecurity, and disruption of “normal” day-to-day routines and social connections. The holidays was a moment to bring some joy to our community through our annual Adopt A Family Program.

The pandemic presented opportunities for program innovation as we prioritized the health and well-being of our staff, donors, and program participants. SOS Adopt A Family team planned, coordinated, and delivered a much revised program with remote volunteers and committee support.

Despite the challenges, we made an incredible impact through the generosity of our donors and partners, who provided gift cards to retail and grocery stores listed on the families’ wish list and some shared with us their joy during the holidays.

We’d also like to extend a special thank you to Hoag Hospital, which donated an incredible $100,000 to this year’s program. We are so humbled and grateful for this and the hundreds of other contributions that brought so much happiness to our community.

ADOPT A FAMILY BY THE NUMBERS:

• 361 donors and partnerships
• 65 participating schools/agencies
• 1,121 families with 3,350 children