CENTRAL OHIO -- As you make your gift list and check it twice this holiday season, keep in mind many local families are not as fortunate.
For them, buying even the simplest of gifts isn't financially possible.
That's where the rest of us can help.
For Ernest and Gilda Miller, last year at this time, affording a life for only the two of them was tough. Gilda was, and still is, on disability and Ernest is retired.
Then, the couple received custody of their 16-month-old grandson, Isaiah.
The grandparents quickly realized they weren't going to be able to give him the Christmas they wanted for him.
“He wasn't in our budget when we got him,” Gilda said.
The Millers contacted the Salvation Army for a food basket and toy and ended up with much more.
The Salvation Army signed up the Millers for its Adopt a Family Program.
Over the holiday season, they received household items as well as gifts for the whole family, especially Isaiah.
“It was really nice. It was really nice,” Gilda said.
She said without being sponsored by a family, coats -- such as the one Isaiah received -- wouldn't have been possible.
But that was just the tip of the iceberg.
“He got toys, big wheel, he got turtleneck shirts -- like four or five turtleneck shirts -- brand new,” she said. “We don't know who the family was that sponsored us, but I would just say, 'God bless them,' because they did a wonderful job.”
If you would like to adopt a local family like the Millers, Friday is the deadline.
Call the Salvation Army at 614-437-2131 or go to http://www.salvationarmycolumbus.org/.
While the families to be adopted this season already were chosen, if you would like to take part in the Salvation Army's Christmas Cheer program and request a basket of food and toy, call 614-221-6561 extension 600 or go to http://www.salvationarmycolumbus.org/.
The Christmas Cheer program is a food and toy distribution program where families receive a Christmas Dinner food box that includes a chicken, stuffing, potatoes, apples, corn, milk, butter, yams, applesauce and cookies. It also includes a toy for every child younger than 13 years.
For additional information, stay with NBC 4 and refresh nbc4i.com -- Where Accuracy Matters.
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