Inside Wellroot’s free, festive Christmas gift shop

On Dec. 16, Wellroot Family Services turned a church into a winter wonderland for hundreds of families, complete with craft stations, face painting and Santa Claus meet and greets.

But the secret centerpiece was open only to the adults: A well-stocked holiday shop where every gift is completely free.

Every year, the longstanding welfare organization hosts a Christmas party to support the families it works with in foster care and prevention services. It’s a way to bring the holidays to children and families who have likely never experienced them.

“Some of the kids that come to this event with their parents either have not had a Christmas before, or have maybe received one Christmas gift,” Wellroot CEO Allison Ashe said.

The Christmas event aims to fix that. For families in poverty, Ashe said the holidays can be especially difficult. She recalled a family that spent an hour in line for Black Friday once, only to buy a single $6 pair of children’s pajamas.

Most of those families have welfare choices, but traditional organizations will pull together a bag of donations and hand them to the parents.

“There are people who have the viewpoint of ‘you get what you get,’” Ashe said.

It works differently at Wellroot. For several months, staff and volunteers have been sourcing donations from all over. They compile items into categories: diapers and baby supplies, board games, sporting goods, puzzles, dolls and more.

The result looks like a bona fide general store. Folding tables are lined with gifts, each separated into different categories. One room is for toddlers and infants, and another is for older children and teenagers.

Families arrived at the front room of Embry Hills United Methodist Church on Dec. 16 to a room full of crafts, Christmas activities, a small farmer’s market and photo opportunities with Santa Claus. Once the children got comfortable playing with volunteers, adults would sneak off to the back.

Each parent or guardian is given a giant red sack, a gift list and a designated volunteer to guide them through the process. Ashe said the biggest issue is convincing them to actually take the free gifts.

Each family can take a game, outfit, craft or science kit, a diaper and wipe pack, three toys, two books and stocking stuffers. Some adults can put in a “big wish” request for a sponsored item like a bicycle or dollhouse.

“We have to push them to get everything [on the list],” Ashe said.

Once each adult is done shopping, they can take gifts to the free wrapping station and secretly load the cars with help from volunteers. The children are none the wiser, and they will wake up to a tree full of gifts on Christmas Day.

“By having our Christmas store, we give the parents the dignity of being able to shop for their own child,” Ashe said.

Foster mom Emily Spears had her first “full-fledged” shopping experience on Dec. 16. The single foster parent has worked with Wellroot for years, but this was her first chance to bring kids and join the festivities.

As Spears spoke to SaportaReport, her three foster children made ornaments, met Santa Claus and mingled with other children. The children had fun celebrating, but Spears said it is also a “great social event.”

“This is a great event for foster parents to come and be with other foster parents, because that’s not something you necessarily get to do a lot,” Spears said.

In total, about 113 families attended the Christmas party in Tucker and the party in Gainesville, Wellroot’s second location. Those families left with gifts for 247 children, thanks to countless donated gifts, staff and 149 volunteers.

After the event, Wellroot delivers additional gifts and gears up for the rest of their year-round family work – including the statewide tax credit program for children aging out of foster care, called the “Fostering Success Act.” 

Ashe said programs like the tax credit, which still has millions of available dollars taxpayers can utilize before year’s end, need more attention.

“It’s so important at the holidays to recognize what families are going through and support them,” Ashe said. “But it’s also important to recognize that they’re going through that all year long.