Christmas will come early next week for about 20 children in need during A Holiday Night of Hope, hosted jointly by Columbus Police Department and Building Bridges of Hope.
CPD Community Liaison Glenda Richardson, who also serves with nonprofit Building Bridges of Hope, said the event is an opportunity to help make the holiday season special for underprivileged children in the community.
“These children that we serve, they are the most vulnerable children,” Richardson told The Dispatch on Tuesday. “… These are some of the homeless children of Columbus, and so we just give them something that perhaps they wouldn’t have had. … Our thing has always been to help the most vulnerable in our community.”
The event is planned for 6:30 p.m. Dec. 19 in CPD’s training room at 1601 Main St. Richardson said children can expect to walk into a room filled with holiday decorations, free food, fun games to play with CPD officers and plenty of toys and gifts, all donated by community members.
This will be the second year Richardson will host the event in conjunction with CPD, though A Holiday Night of Hope has been held since about 2013 under the city’s Community Outreach Office. In those years, Richardson has witnessed hundreds of children tear open gifts and enjoy the evening with their peers and community leaders.
“It’s amazing the gratitude that they show when they come in the room because some of them, they don’t get to go to parties all the time, and to be in a place with other kids like them, where they’re not being teased, they’re not being bullied, because everybody is on the same playing field, It’s just a joy to see,” she said.
About 20 children were identified for this year’s event. Richardson said that most children are brought to her attention by concerned citizens.
“I just kind of ask around and find people who say, ‘Hey, I know a few kids. Can you help them out?’” Richardson said. “Normally, it’s a lot of word of mouth. They know this is something I’ve done in the past, for many years, and so people just contact me and let me know about them.”
Richardson said each child is cross referenced with local Salvation Army Angel Tree programs to ensure different families are being served.
Richardson said most of the children don’t make requests for what gifts they’d like to receive, though she has two special requests she’s hoping to fill by next week.
One of those requests is for a new gaming computer, asked for by a young boy who recently lost eyesight in one of his eyes. Another request came from a family hoping to replace their old iPad, which was left behind after they fled from an abusive home.
Mayor Stephen Jones was in attendance at last year’s event, where one family was gifted a new television, while another received a new bed. Other children received bikes, toys and gift cards for restaurants and shops.
“It just brings joy to your heart because you can tell that they really were appreciative of the gifts that they got,” Jones told The Dispatch.
Jones will be at next week’s event alongside city council members and CPD staff.
Richardson said residents can “adopt” children for the event through Monday. Anyone can adopt a child by calling Richardson at (662) 364-1850. New, unwrapped gifts or gift cards can be dropped off in the training room during business hours through Dec. 17. Residents should contact Richardson to inquire about making monetary donations in lieu of presents.
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You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 34 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
