Keeping up with five active teenagers, a preteen girl and a boy, 7, could tire most adults, but it is even more exhausting for Darla.
The single grandmother, 65, is rearing seven of her grandchildren.
“They’ve been with me all their lives,” said Darla, whose name has been changed to protect her privacy.
Darla, who recently retired, is disabled and uses a wheelchair. She is unable to drive and relies on help from one of her daughters — the children’s aunt — to chauffer the teens and younger kids to their various after-school and weekend activities.
“We’re a sports family, you know,” Darla said. “They all like playing sports.”
Until recently the older boy, 15, played in a midget football league and the older girls were members of the league’s cheerleading squad.
They’ve aged out of the program, Darla said, but it was still tough when the family had to leave their football friends and move out of the area.
A series of health crises left Darla unable to keep up with mortgage payments and property taxes, and she lost the family’s suburban home.
She found an affordable rental — an old farmhouse in a rural area of Berks County — and the family settled in last year.
Although there is not much left after she pays the rent, heating costs and other utilities, country life has been good for them.
The girls developed an interest in horses and now volunteer at a local horse farm.
And Darla fell in love with the old place.
“This house suits me,” she said. “It’s so darn old and falling apart around my ears, but I love it.”
She is looking forward to hosting an old-fashioned holiday at home, something she missed out on last year while in the hospital from November through mid-January.
Togetherness is the most important part of the season, Darla knows. Still, she would like to get each of the children a little something special.
“Their aunt and I get them what they need throughout the year,” she said. “But at Christmas time, I try to get them what they want. It’s nice to have something underneath the tree, even though they are getting older.”
That’s where Operation Holiday can help.
Operation Holiday
Operation Holiday was started in 1991 at The Mercury in Pottstown to help families going through tough times provide something for their children during the holidays. The mission of the program is to make sure there is food on the table and gifts under the tree when Christmas morning comes.
Now in its 33rd year, the program has served thousands of families throughout Berks, Chester and Montgomery counties, expanding its reach in recent years to include communities served by Reading Eagle, The Times Herald, The Reporter and Daily Local News.
More than $91,000 in donations last year provided food and gifts for 451 children and 199 families, plus cash donations to food pantries in Berks, Chester and Montgomery counties.
This year, Operation Holiday has partnered with 19 agencies in the tri-county area.
Agencies have referred 165 families with 419 children for gifts and food.
There is no overhead with Operation Holiday and all funds stay local. Funds are collected and audited in a nonprofit foundation account managed by staff of MediaNews Group who volunteer their time.
Gift cards to area grocery stores are provided to each family for food, so that they can purchase the fixings for a holiday dinner as well as staples for the pantry. Weis Markets is a partner with Operation Holiday and has assisted with food purchases and gift cards.
Gift cards for every child in the program 16 years of age or younger are purchased through Boscov’s and distributed in partnership with the referring agencies so that families can purchase gifts of their choice.
Operation Holiday does not accept families who have not been referred by an agency.
Operation Holiday is funded solely by reader contributions. All contributions are tax deductible.
How to donate
Online donations are being accepted in a secure portal in partnership with TriCounty Community Network. Visit https://tcnetwork.org/ and click on the link for Operation Holiday.
Contributions can be mailed with checks payable to Operation Holiday to P.O. Box 1181, Pottstown PA 19464; The Reporter, 307 Derstine Ave., Lansdale PA 19446; Operation Holiday, 1440 Lacrosse Ave., Reading, PA 19607.
The names of all contributors are published in the participating newspapers as donations are received. Please note whether a contribution should be designated as anonymous or given in tribute or in memory of someone.
Source: Berkshire mont
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