Christmas Gifts for kids in need

November 2, 2015

Hello, my name is Hailey, I work for Little Flower Children and Family Services of New York with a group of girls ages 9 to 16. I started working with this facility back in June of this summer and went through a process to learn about working with children who come from abusive and neglectful homes. Most, if not all, of the girls I work with personally on a daily basis have gone through some type of traumatic event which has made them incapable of being in a normal school and home setting.  These girls have tendencies to be defensive, untrusting and resistive to authority figures because of what they have been through. When I started getting to know the girls I wanted to show them that I had a true interest in learning who they were as people.  The girls did not trust me at first and took my caring and nice demeanor as a fake persona, but I kept working with them. They began to enjoy and ask for me to stay longer on my shifts.  I made it my goal to work to be a positive influence for these girls every time I was with them.  I always try and give the girls’ positive advice instead of just always telling them what they say or do is wrong.  It is hard for these children to feel like they have any say or rule over what they would like to do or have because of the system that they have to abide by.  The routine and daily schedules are very strict and require the children to follow the structure or they get privileges taken away.  This concept is harder to follow for some when they never had structure in their lives.  I find that you have to say no to a lot of requests that they ask because rules must be followed; this causes more frustration and causes them to be let down.  From getting to know these girls I’ve grown to care and love them even when they become extremely difficult.  They are all unique and special in their own ways and shine so positively when they are passionate and excited.  They each have goals and aspirations for themselves outside of the facility that I could only hope to help them achieve.

            As I have made connections with these girls and have brought home countless stories about them, my parents, grandmother and I talked about the upcoming holiday season.  In my family we always practiced the concept of giving back to the less fortunate.  After they learned to care about these girls the way I did, we felt the need to give these girls an extra special Christmas.  I came up with the concept to include them into a Christmas party at a local Long Island country club and have the girls write a letter and list of Christmas gifts they wished for. However, due to unforeseen circumstances we were not permitted to have the girls come to the event.  It was a setback to our initial plans but we are not deterred from giving these girls something to look forward to and we are not going to let them down. I am asking for your help to fulfill the Christmas wishes for these girls in any way possible.