SGR Hears Emotional Plea for Support

Emotional radio personality Carl Lamar and Coins for Kids Board Chairman Brian Musso shared their dedication to the fundraising event for needy children now in its 27th year. According to Carl, the first event – in 1990 – began with an idea to help 2 families and raised a few hundred dollars to buy gifts. Today the yearly fundraising goal is $125,000 – a sum which is adjusted up or down depending on the number of kids in need in the community.

Musso, who has been involved in the project for 18 years, noted, “every penny of the money raised goes to help kids. There’s not a single person on our payroll.”

The year with the most number of children in difficult circumstances was 2009 following the economic downturn. “That Christmas, we had 920 families sign up needing help providing gifts for more than 3000 children.”

In 2016, the number of families who have signed up for help dropped by 15.3% to 434 with approximately 330 kids already adopted by organizations such as SGR. The reason is likely due to one of three factors:

            • a stronger economy

            • Coins for Kids’ 3-year rule (no families can sign up more than 3 times)

            • People have left the area

Coins for Kids work closely with other non-profit organizations to prevent “double-dipping” such as “Toys for Tots” and “Shop with a Cop.”