Make a Difference This Holiday Season with Angels’ Place Adopt a Family / Child Program

Make a Difference This Holiday Season with Angels’ Place Adopt a Family / Child Program

I remember my first full time job as a math teacher at Archbishop Rummel High School. I was there for 22 years, as an educator and as an administrator. In my first year, I assisted with a car wash fundraiser to help a student raise money for a bone marrow transplant to help him fight leukemia. After that, I wanted to get more involved with service to others and I wanted to be able to share that with others.

Along with my students, we started a very successful service program. One of our projects was to stage a Christmas party for the families of Angels’ Place on the campus of the school. We did that for many years, and I was invited to join the board of directors of Angels’ Place, which I did for a few years. When the original executive director, Anita Gilford, decided to retire, I was approached to become the next executive director. It was like a calling, a part of God’s plan for me. I also knew that if I did not do this, I wasn’t sure who would be there for these kids. So, I became the second executive director of Angels’ Place, and I have been there for the past seven years.

What is Angels’ Place?

Imagine if you were a parent of a child with a life-threatening diagnosis of cancer, heart defect, brain tumor, or a congenital disease. As a parent, you will begin to worry and wonder if your child will get through this or how this will affect your family with more kids in the picture. You may be a single parent or both parents / caregivers may have to work to make ends meet. This adds even more stress because the sick child demands around-the-clock care.

This is where Angels’ Place helps. This is a local nonprofit that provides on-going support services to families with children with life-threatening diseases. These services include respite care, gift cards for unexpected costs, parent support groups, school supplies, and family events all at no cost to the family. We currently help close to 80 children and their families all over Louisiana through local hospitals in New Orleans.

Now imagine these parents or caregivers having to think about Christmas. Angels’ Place has an Adopt a Child or Family program, and we are asking for the help from the community. We have over 200 kids that we have to provide a holiday morning for, and we do not want any family in the situation to go without. Help us help our families by adopting a child or a family. We are currently collecting wish lists from our children.

If you can help, please email our executive director, Mark Firmin at [email protected] or call our office at 504-455-2620 to get more information. You can also get more information about Angels’ Place on our website or on Facebook and Instagram. We will send you a form to complete, and once it is returned, we will email you a list of needed items. The deadline to deliver the gifts to us is December 5 so that we have time to get them ready for distribution  We will work with all budgets, no matter how big or small.

Help us bring Christmas morning to our kids by being an Angel for an Angel.

About the Author

Mark Firmin is the executive director of Angels’ Place and lives in Metairie with his wife, Cherie. He is also a part-time math adjunct instructor at Loyola University. In his spare time (when he has some ), he likes to see movies, do service to help others, play pickleball, do stand-up comedy, watch live music, and collect watches.

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