COLUMBUS, Ohio — The holidays can get us in the giving spirit, but not everybody is in a position to provide gifts for their fasmilies.
What You Need To Know
- The annual Huckleberry House Holiday Gift Drive collects Christmas presents for families in transitional living
- As a young mother, Chyla Larry was able to get gifts for her three children
- The gift drive raised $25,000 worth of presents this season
Chyla Larry, 22, has a lot on her hands. She’s a young mom of three boys under 2-years-old and works two jobs, but she has come a long way.
“I was in a domestic violence relationship,” said Chyla Larry.
Now she’s starting over.
“It could have been worse for me,” said Larry. “I could have not been here right now.”
She left that domestic violence situation but had nowhere to go, so she turned to couch surfing. All she wanted was a fresh start for her family. But at the time, she didn’t have childcare much less a job.
That’s when Huckleberry House’s transitional living program lent a hand. The program helps people like Larry, once without a home, become independent by helping her find a job, a place to live and counseling.
Not long after, she found herself in a pinch again, worried she wouldn’t be able to buy her children Christmas gifts.
But Huckleberry House was way ahead of her.
“We just believe all youth should get to experience some joy over the holidays, no matter what they’re going through,” said Sonya Thesing, executive director of Huckleberry House.
Thesing helps run a holiday gift drive. It donates gifts to youth and young adults — mostly serving those in the transitional-living programs and their children.
Larry’s family is just one of them.
And the holiday gift drive seems to put a smile on everyone’s face, especially the kids.
“They are like obsessed with the wrappings,” said Larry. “They want to open their presents real bad. As soon as they came in, they were like ‘wow’.”
It gives her one more thing to be thankful for this holiday season.
“In the house, where we live, it’s great that I can have something under the tree for them,” Larry said.
This year, Huckleberry House raised enough for $25,000 worth of presents and received more than $10,000 worth of gift cards in the gift drive. Go to www.HuckHouse.org to learn more or pitch in.
