Salvation Army to provide gifts for children of inmates
By Mary Regli
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OMAHA, Nebraska (KETV) — There are thousands of kids who won’t celebrate Christmas with their parents in the Omaha Metro this year. For some, their parents are incarcerated.
“So, what we’re doing is the Salvation Army gives each child a gift card and so that they get a present from their parents, even though their parents are not there,” said Kathy O’Connor, who serves as the advisor for the Women’s Auxiliary Board at the Salvation Army. O’Connor has helped provide gift cards to these kids for several years.
Through its Prison Toy Lift program, the Salvation Army helps make sure no child is overlooked.
This year, it is providing nearly 900 gift cards to children whose parents are in the Douglas County Correctional Center. The kids can use the gift cards to pick out toys of their choice.
“No child should ever have to bear the consequences of anyone else. And so, we want to make sure that children are given an opportunity to have a childhood at Christmas time and allow the parents to make sure that they’re still providing a gift, and they can feel that pride of being a parent to their children,” said Maj. Dan Sawka, the Omaha area commander for the Salvation Army.
Volunteers say there’s an opportunity for forgiveness there, too.
“The Salvation Army goes in and actually gets the cards from the inmates, and a lot of them write notes to their kids, and it’s kind of heartwarming. Some of the parents, you know, they apologize for making a wrong choice and not being there and that they miss the kids,” said O’Connor.
The Salvation Army says the Toy Lift program is just one part of its ultimate mission to help people get back on the right path.
“The Salvation Army wants to make sure that we’re living up to our motto of ‘doing the most good,’ And we want to make sure that when individuals find themselves in need, regardless of the situation, that the first organization they think about is the Salvation Army,” said Sawka.
Sawka says you can help support their mission by donating to the organization’s red kettles this holiday season.
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