By now, our End-of-Year Appeal, and our story about Haley has started to reach mailboxes. And in just five days, our iGive.com campaign has reached $195; I hope we can break $1000 before the end of the campaign on January 9th.

In our Appeal, we ask you for a generous donation to support our programs year around. In our iGive Campaign, we ask for just a few minutes of your time to help us secure $10 at no cost to you. Today, I want to let you know about how a couple of our programs benefit our Christmas Wish List . . . like the Teen Moms program that helped Haley and her mom. While the need is not optional, our wish list is another option for you.

Wishing for Teen Moms

First, our Teen Moms program in Dodge City helps young mothers between the ages of 13 and 23 who have chosen to raise their own child. Our goal in this program is to help young mothers to beat the odds by giving them the support and incentives they need to become self-sufficient and nurturing parents. Working with the program director and volunteer mentors, participants agree to attend school or work full time, maintain at least a "C" in all classes, delay subsequent pregnancies, attend weekly Discovery Workshops, and meet one-on-one to set and evaluate goals each semester.

As participants  do these things, they have opportunities each week to earn "Teen Mom Bucks" that they can spend in the Teen Mom Store to purchase diapers, clothes, wipes, bathing items, books, movies and more. Participants can also earn $25, $50, $75 or $100 depending on the percentage of their goals that they accomplished during the season. These are just a couple of the ways that we encourage and support young mothers to become strong, self-sufficient and nurturing parents for their children.

Wishing for our Non-Food Pantry

Another program that benefits from our Christmas Wish List is our non-food pantry. AmeriCorps members started the non-food pantry in Great Bend last year to provide some of the essential items that individuals and families need (not want), but that cannot necessarily be secured at the local food pantry. For example, when a family is behind on rent and utilities--sometimes by two or three months--we look for ways to direct as much of their income towards those major expenses as possible. For food, we can direct them to the local food pantry, and other low-cost food options. Meanwhile, we count on donations of deodorant, laundry soap, toilet paper and other essential items for maintaining a home and job, while we help them recover from unanticipated emergencies, and/or learn better financial practices.

Our Year-'Round Christmas Wish List

In order to support our Non-Food Pantry and the Teen Moms Store, we have a year-'round Christmas Wish List for items like diapers, wipes, toilet paper, laundry detergent, dish soap, trash bags, tooth brushes and tooth paste, shampoo, etc. Basically, we need items that are essential for raising an infant, or for maintaining a home and/or employment. When in doubt, the word "essential" is a good guideline.

To make it easy, we have set up our on-going Christmas Wish List with Amazon so that all you have to do is select and pay for items you wish to donate, and they will be automatically delivered to our office. You don't have to do anything else. We will send you an acknowledgement by mail. Of course, you can also purchase things directly at your local grocery store and bring them to any of the three offices listed at the bottom of this page.

As always, If you have any questions about iGive, our Wish List, or our End-of-Year Appeal, please contact me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or by phone at 620-792-1393. In addition to our year-'round Christmas Wish List, all of us at Catholic Social Service wish you and your entire family  the peace of Christ during this Advent and Christmas season, and year-'round!