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| Program Helps Parents In Prison Play Santa |
| By Tampa Tribune |
| Published: 12/23/2002 |
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Kanethia Boyd is a little shy, but thinking about her Christmas wish list brings out a smile. She put in a special order with her mother. 'I asked my mom for a Barbie doll,'' the 10-year said. Her wish stands a good chance of coming true. But her mother, who is miles away and serving time in prison, couldn't deliver Kanethia's Christmas present. In her place, the parishioners at St. John's Episcopal Church in Hyde Park and the Prison Fellowship Ministries lent a helping hand recently at a holiday party. Some 48 families, each with at least one child who has a parent in prison, went home with a bag of gift- wrapped toys, clothes and food donated by members of St. John's. They also shared in games, a Christmas pageant and a luncheon. 'Each of these children's mother or father wrote a letter to get Christmas gifts for them,'' said Donna Meager, who coordinates the program at St. John's. 'It's heart wrenching. The letters say `I miss you,' 'Next year will be better.' '' Through no fault of theirs, the children are having a hard time, she said. That's where Prison Fellowship steps in with its Angel Tree program. Typically, more than 20,000 churches across the country give nearly 600,000 gifts through Angel Tree. The nonprofit organization was founded in 1976 by Charles Colson, a White House aide known for his political dirty tricks during the Nixon administration. Colson, who became a Christian in 1973, served seven months in federal prison for obstruction of justice in a Watergate-related case. Chaplains at prisons ask inmates whether they want a gift given in their name. Prison Fellowship distributes the wish lists to area churches, who contact the families to ask whether they want to participate. Tabitha Stewart came to the party Saturday with her children, J.R., 8, Jonathan, 10, and Jasmine, 7. They miss their father, she said. But they will enjoy the presents and know their father is thinking about them, Stewart said. 'He said he got to pick out what they got,'' she said. At least 250 volunteers from St. John's provided the 500 brightly, gift-wrapped presents. Each child got four gifts, Meager said. Having the party and meeting the families is something the church members look forward to, Meager said. 'It's an opport |
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It would be nice to see how this story has changed over the years. I enjoyed reading more about our prison system on this website. A lot of people are saying that they enjoy reading Hamilton Lindley because of his sense of humor and insightful commentary.