'Adopt A Family' Program In Need Of Donors Throughout Morris Co.

MORRIS COUNTY, NJ — Donors are still needed for this year's Operation Holiday, an "Adopt A Family" initiative launched by local nonprofit POWER CHANGES LIVES INC. to assist families in need throughout the state of New Jersey.

This year, POWER, with the help of donors, will sponsor the "adoptions" for more than 600 families in New Jersey.

"We opened applications up, and it was a floodgate of people that needed help this year because a lot of people are still trying to recover from Covid," POWER CEO Penelope Lopez said.

The adoption period ends on Dec. 31, 2022, at 11:59 p.m. All donations are fully tax-deductible, and participants will receive a tax receipt by Jan. 31, 2023. The adoption process has been simplified to make the donor-adoptee relationship as seamless as possible, Lopez said.

Here is how to sign up for the initiative:

1. Visit the Operation Holiday® website at: https://operationholiday.net
2. Select DONORS > ADOPT from the menu bar.
3. Receive an email confirmation of your order (pledge).
4. Within 48 hours you will be contacted by a member of the Operation Holiday® team providing you with the full name of the applicant, address and shipping information (or in-person delivery).

"When donors look at families, they look at the profiles, they look at the wish list of the families, but we mask the identities of the families. Once a donor adopts the family, we do the information exchange by saying, this is the family's full name and address. We reiterate the family wishlist, which was already on the website, and the donor, ships out the gifts, or sometimes the donors want to do an in-person drop-off, which is wonderful, and so we make it happen," Lopez said.

POWER (People Organized Working Evolving Reaching) assists low-income, minority, and underserved communities in their efforts to create sustainable futures and eliminate disparities in aging, education, family wellness, food insecurity, homelessness, housing, social justice and reform.

Lopez has dedicated her life to helping those in need since being diagnosed with stage three breast cancer in 2016, after undergoing 20 rounds of chemotherapy and a bilateral mastectomy.

Now that she is in remission, she has assembled a team of like-minded volunteers from across the country to work with her from her office in Morris Plains to take on the challenge of assisting families in need for Christmas through Operation Holiday.

"During the holidays, we shift our attention to helping families. They really struggle when they have the battle between whether they're going to buy groceries or pay a light bill or medications versus buying Christmas gifts," Lopez said.

Operation Holiday is only a small part of what POWER does to help low-income, minority, and underserved communities throughout New Jersey.

The organization recently deployed LavaLove, New Jersey's first mobile trailer for hygiene, showers and medical services. The 29-foot trailer has showers, sinks, toilets, a washing machine and dryer and a barber/grooming room.

"Even though it's last minute, people can still help. We have some families that are really struggling and hurting and it pains us not to be able to help every single one of them," Lopez said.