(WAVY) — The season of giving is upon us and a national nonprofit is giving back in Hampton Roads.
After a trying year, Soldier’s Angels is hoping to help several military and veteran families for the holidays, with the help of an anonymous donor.
The organization is thanking active and veteran service members through its “Adopt-a-family” holiday program.
The anonymous donor will be helping 20 military and veteran families so they’re looking for applicants.
“Many of them, although it’s meant to be a supplemental program, it’s the only thing their children received, so it’s really important to be able to meet those needs and support as many families as we can,” said President and CEO Amy Palmer.
Palmer said they usually assist about 1,000 families every holiday season but she anticipates the need will be even greater this year — and companies are stepping up to help.
“We’re probably going to do at least 50% more,” she said. “This year, because of COVID, we have a lot more companies that are looking to adopt families.”
One of those companies has ties to Hampton Roads. They asked to remain anonymous but the company made a generous donation to bring joy to local military and veteran families.
Like countless others, Palmer said they’ve been directly impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.
“Particularly with COVID, there’s a lot of additional things: the spouse isn’t working anymore or during a deployment, they had to leave a job because they don’t have their childcare source,” Palmer said.
The donation will go toward providing a holiday meal and gifts for children in the family. Palmer said it’s their way of showing gratitude.
“This is really meant to thank them for their service and so we want to be able to do this for them,” she said.
For information on how apply for the program or to donate to the cause, click here.