February 2001

Angels Come From The Heart:
An After Christmas Story

The tree sparkled with ornaments and tinsel from the glorious angel on top to the carefully wrapped packages beneath. Early morning frost glistened on the windows as the first rays of sunlight beamed in upon the four children running happily toward the abundance of gifts, tearing at the wrapping of one then moving swiftly to another...

Is this Christmas scene familiar to your heart? To many around Wichita this scene was not to be.

Meet An Angel

LaSherrie is only one of many angels this Christmas season. Already a single mother of a seven-year-old boy, LaSherrie received legal gurdianship of three more boys this October, aged 11, 13 and 14. The boys were taken out of an abusive environment by SRS this past fall and put in the care of LaSherrie, a cousin.

LaSherrie is proud of the boys and happy to bring them into her loving home.

Being so close to the holidays, LaSherrie realized that four boys was going to be a great strain on her finances especially when it came to Christmas gifts. She was chagrined at not being able to provide a perfect setting for the family’s first Christmas together. While family and friends were very supportive, the financial needs of the growing family were not going to be met.

Much Needed Blessings

Once LaSherrie realized she needed additional help, she reached out for other resources. Two such resources for LaSherrie and her boys were The Salvation Army and United Way of the Plains.

"There was just no money for Christmas gifts," said LaSherrie. "With the help of United Way, I was able to give the boys some of the things they wanted."

She’d heard about The Salvation Army’s Angel Tree program that provides toys to the low-income. United Way of the Plains funding of residential youth services, which coordinates the Angel Tree program, was able to bring LaSherrie hope for her family. She qualified for the Angel Tree program and she says that it was truly a Christmas blessed with angels.

LaSherrie is still struggling to make ends meet, but she is proud that she was able to bring her boys a happy, loving Christmas.

Call United Way of the Plains at 267-1321 to find out more about how your money is helping our community.