Press

For the last 17 years, Marilyn Solomon and her children, Danielle and Stephanie, have created a fabulous Christmas for dozens of the areas needy children. All year, they gather up gifts and clothing and they start wrapping in November. They select gifts especially for each child, and are constantly looking for bargains on toys and clothing. It takes them about two months to beautifully and gaily wrap over 2,000 gifts. Each family, usually chosen from Salvation Army or food bank rolls, receives a whole van load of gifts. They are anonymous so the family has never taken credit for their fantastic contributions. A couple years ago, they formalized an organization and called it the Kare for Kidz Foundation. It is entirely funded by Marilyn, a local attorney, and contributions from her children’s part-time jobs. They did Christmas for 25 children and one elderly lady this year. Last year, 27 underprivileged children had the best Christmas of their lives due to Marilyn and her children. Over the years, they have helped over 200 kids have an amazing and special Christmas.Some things they recall from their experiences over the years:One child asked if we knew his parents. When we said “no,” he started dancing about exclaiming “I knew there was a Santa Claus.”Another child asked his mother to speak to Santa Claus. He said, “mom, I know we are too poor to afford a tree. Do you think Santa can please bring us some gifts even if we have no tree to leave them under?”One family was just sitting down to a dinner of bread. When we asked if that was the whole meal, the grandmother said “it was good enough for Jesus; it’s good enough for us. And we are thankful to have it.” After delivering the gifts and clothing, we immediately went to the grocery store, loaded up the van with food, and returned with it for the family. They offered their thanks to the local “food bank” because we are always anonymous.

Here is a couple of pictures of their house last year after the Kare for Kidz gifts were wrapped. There literally had almost no place to sit in any room:

We want to thank Rappahannock Electric Cooperative and the users who participate in The Power of Change Program for their incredible generosity. Because of this program, Kare4Kidz received a grant for the 2022 holiday season, helping us to accept additional families and provide holiday gifts for more local underprivileged children. Rappahannock Electric Cooperative uses this great program to give back to the local community. With their assistance, our small, family run charity can spread far more good works in our community. Thank you to Rappahannock Electric Cooperative and everyone who participates in their Power of Change Program by rounding up their electric bills, helping us spread the holiday spirit and assist so many deserving children in our community!

It is through the generosity of the Rappahannock Electric Cooperative member-owners who round-up their electric bills through The Power of Change program, that the CARE Charity can award grants to organizations like ours. Together with this support we can do great things for our communities. For more information on The Power of Change please visit thepowerofchange.org.

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