The number one reason why people check themselves out of treatment during the holidays is the associated guilt of not being with their families.
Christmas is about kids, our own, and the inner kid that resides within us. The holidays are about giving, the giving of our time, and the giving of gifts. These realities are not escapable by those in active addiction or early recovery.
Unfortunately, people in initial recovery are least prepared to give.
Our friends Alexis and Linda from Recovery Kidz joined Glenn on a special sober.coffee podcast bonus drop on December 11, 2022. Those that listened heard an incredible story of human compassion, service, and hope.
Founded in 2013, Recovery Kidz has worked with treatment centers to give gifts for the children of those in care and has expanded services to provide presents for young mothers in treatment and their babies. This single element could be the differentiator that keeps one staying in treatment or has them leaving treatment prematurely.
The premises are pretty simple;1) The very best gift that an addict can give their family it's the gift of their sobriety - so staying and treatment is always the best course of action, and 2) Individuals in treatment are typically not in the best position to be buying Christmas gifts for their children.
The process deployed by Recovery Kidz is genius. The children of those in care centers craft a wish list uploaded to Amazon where donor partners can purchase and send those gifts directly to the organization that delivers them unwrapped to those in care. They, then, have ownership over wrapping and distributing the love. Or, if transferring cash is more convenient, then PayPal can accept any donation level while the organizers will do the gift ordering and distribution on the donors’ behalf.
It is such a magically unique holiday miracle.
What is remarkable about this organization is that they never leave the season with money in the till. Each dollar is spent on gifts, and almost always, the organizers contribute their money to top off. 100% of all purchases, and cash donations go toward actual gifts. The organization can tell you precisely what present went to exactly what child.
There is an inherent “gap in services” when it comes to supporting those in addiction centers; the girls remind us that because of the effects of inflation, the organization is struggling this year to meet the high demand they face.
Mike and Glenn are supporting the organization this year, and we can say emphatically that we feel great about our ability to help the next struggling alcoholic during this season of high stress. The first-hand understanding that drives us is that the kids are living in the trauma of addiction.
Would you consider positively impacting a life in this extraordinary way today?
Remember, no donation is too small,
To learn more about the organization or to get involved, go to www.recoverykidz.com
Thoughts and ideas for this blog post were taken and built upon from sober.coffee podcast BONUS Titled: “Recovery Kidz” The podcast dropped on 12/11/2021. Click here to hear the podcast
Photo by Tina Vanhove on Unsplash
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