By Brady Winkler
The Wayland Middle School PTO has recently launched a gift drive for tweens and teens living in residency at Wayside Youth & Family Services Network. This organization works to give guidance and shelter to youth 12 – 18 years old who can’t live at home because they are struggling with mental health issues, have experienced abuse, neglect or trauma.
In past years, the gift drive was able to make the holidays special for all 80 tweens and teens at Wayside. This number has grown to 93 tweens and teens, so your donations are extra important. Many of these kids don’t receive any gifts from their families. You can donate to the drive by scanning the QR code below using a mobile device’s camera app. The gifts on the Amazon wishlist were selected by the kids themselves and many of them are items that may be on your wishlist too!
As Colleen Morneweck, the organizer of the drive, writes, “There are many gift drives for children in foster care, but the kids at Wayside have never been the recipient of those gift drives. Wayland has rallied to make sure that this often overlooked group has a better holiday and feels that there are people who care.”
Please help make the holidays a little brighter for children that won’t get to be with family. Thank you!
