The Seton Center, a nonprofit agency that serves people in need, mostly in northern Frederick County, is seeking sponsors for families this Thanksgiving and Christmas.
‘‘We provide three levels of service for families, depending on their needs and on the number of sponsors and resources available," the center’s Sister Patricia Nee said in a press release.
For Thanksgiving, sponsors provide non-perishable food items and a gift certificate for perishable items. Christmas sponsors can provide either toys and clothing, or food, or all three, for a family.
When people call to volunteer to sponsor a family, they are matched with a family according to their resources. A business or church may want to sponsor a family with a number of children, whereas a single person may choose to sponsor a single parent with one child.
The Seton Center also needs cash donations.
The Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul sponsor the Seton Center, which has been serving the area for about 25 years.
The center’s services include emergency and temporary financial assistance with items such as rent, heat, utilities and prescriptions, along with referral and information services, supportive counseling, advocating for the needs of the poor and many other services, including the only thrift shop
in the area.
Last year, 54 sponsors served 108 families at Christmas.
‘‘This year the people we’re seeing need a deeper level of help because the cost of rents, electricity, heating and medical visits and prescriptions have all increased," Sister Ellen Eisenberger, administrator of the Seton Center, said in the press release.
A clearance process helps ensure the families served are not receiving help from more than one agency, Sister Nee said.
To sponsor a family, make a donation or volunteer to help, call Sister Nee at 301-447-6102 or e-mail setoncenterinc@doc.org.
