The generosity of local families is magnified this time of year as Angel Trees pop up to ensure a magical Christmas for children birth to 12 years old. Teenagers, however, have often been left out of the equation.  The Connecting Link, a local organization, is launching its first Teen Angels program to better serve the needs of those 13-18 years old.

 

“The Connecting Link is designed to help locate resources to help families become more self-sufficient,” said Emergency Assistance and Holiday Happiness Coordinator Lisa Hinzman.  “When we noticed that teens were being underserved around the holidays, we put the Teen Angels program into place and the generosity of those involved has been overwhelmingly postitive.” 

 

The Bridgeport High School Key Club is one of the organizations involved in helping with the program this year. “We have collected items such as nail polish, iTunes cards, gift cards, perfume, socks, gift sets, and other age-appropriate gifts for the teens.  It’s humbling for our students to realize their peers appreciate such donations and we are really excited about supporting this program,” said Key Club Advisor Charlene Keener.

 

Approximately 160 local teens will benefit from the program this year.  “ We collaborated with local churches, organizations, businesses and schools to seek donations in order to make Teen Angels a success during its first year,” said Hinzman.  “The Holiday Happiness  program is an additional goodwill service to help families during certain times of the year such as Back to School and holidays.” 

 

This year, more than 400 baskets were distributed for Thanksgiving and even more will be given out to families for Christmas.  For anyone interested in making donations to the Teen Angels program or any of the other programs sponsored by The Connecting Link, please contact them at 304-623-6681.  Donation deadlines are this week in order to distribute on December 16.