Adopt A Child – Keep Kids Warm celebrates 30 years of providing outdoor winter clothing to children on Sunday September 17, 2017. (Photo: Nicole Kleinsteuber / Quinte News)
When retired Belleville police constable Wayne Baker started the Adopt-A-Child program 30 years ago he said he never thought it would last this long.
On Sunday, members from local police detachments, program volunteers and supporters gathered to ring in three decades of providing new snowsuits and winter boots to children of low income working families as well as those on social assistance in Belleville, Stirling-Rawdon, Centre Hastings, Deseronto and Prince Edward County.
Now under a new name – Keep Kids Warm, the program has grown tremendously from helping 117 children in 1987 to an estimated 1,300 this year. Altogether the program has clothed over 12,000 kids.
“Before I started the program in 1987, I remember being out on patrol in the winter and being taken by the amount of kids poorly dressed,” Baker told the crowd. He said he was asked to be a part of a local Christmas toy drive and thought there must be something he could do to help put outdoor winter clothing under the tree too. He explained how he wrote the program for Adopt-A-Child and police stations, CKWS TV and 800 CJBQ all agreed to enter into a partnership.
Lance Jeffery, a former CJBQ broadcaster worked with Baker from the get go. He called it incredible how the program is still going 30 years later.
“I am so grateful that we were able to take care of those children in that first year and we are still providing support to children,” Jeffery said.
A heartwarming letter from a widow who turned to the program was read aloud.
“Almost 12 years ago I lost my husband. I found an amazing friend who took care of us and outfitted my daughter from head to toe. Not much. But when you’re going through a roller coaster ride, not having to purchase a snowsuit was a weight off of my shoulders. Now I am a volunteer with the program.”
Program Chair Belleville Police Detective Constable Ann Earl-Dempsey has been involved with the program for the last 23 years. She said it’s the look of happiness on the children’s faces when they receive their new snowsuits that keeps her coming back year after year.
She explained how the program has undergone many changes over the past 30 years. Officers used to hand wrap the snowsuits and deliver them to recipient’s homes in the days leading up to Christmas. They decided that children needed their snowsuits before the snow starts. Registration was pushed back to September and now children receive their snowsuits and boots in early November. The program name has also changed. She said they are moving towards “Keep Kids Warm” as it better explains what the initiate aims to achieve. A women’s knitting group in Stirling called the Knit Wits has also been donating homemade hats and mittens. This year they donated 700 hats and mitts.
“I believe in the program and we need to give back,” she explained. “I can’t believe we have gotten this far … the only reason we made it here is because of the community and without them we wouldn’t be here. We owe everything to them.”
Registration for the program is open until September 29 at the Children’s Safety Village in Belleville located at 93 Dundas St, E. It is open to all families from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Prince Edward County residents can sign up at the ROC youth centre at 280 Main Street from 12:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Madoc and Stirling residents can sign up at their respective police detachments.
Anyone wishing to donate to the Adopt-A-Child program can contact the Belleville Police at (613) 966-0882 ext: 4100 or Quinte Broadcasting at (613) 969-5555.
