The Children’s Foundation of Guelph and Wellington’s Adopt-A-Family Program (AAF) connects families who are unable to afford gifts or a holiday dinner with community donors during the holiday season. Families are referred to the program by social-community agencies in Guelph and Wellington County. While Adopt-A-Family began as a Christmas holiday program, it is open to people of all backgrounds and traditions. Social or community workers are welcome to refer families in need to our program, provided their agency has signed a Memo of Understanding with the Foundation. Here are some key details: 

• Families must be referred by a social worker or another professional working in an agency or community organization. Families cannot apply directly.
• Once we have confirmed your agency as a referring agency, we can provide you with the information needed to begin making referrals. Please note: we begin taking referrals in early October and need to have the majority of referrals in by early November.
• To ensure that we are supporting as many families as possible by not duplicating efforts, we will be cross-checking referrals with the Christmas Holiday Bureau, managed by The Salvation Army. For more information on this process, please click HERE. 

Our Adopt-A-Family Program runs from an offsite location (different from our main CFGW office) for the months of October through December. This season, AAF will be located at 69 Huron St, Guelph, in the old St. Joes building. CLICK HERE to see more information about location & hours. 

We would be happy to answer any other questions you may have. Call 519-826-9551 ext. 129 (January-October) or 519-826-9551 x 136 (or press 5) (October-December) or by email at aaf@childrensfoundation.org.