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Catholic Charities Atlanta’s Christie Crane Discusses Christmas Connections Program
Every Christmas, Catholic Charities Atlanta collaborates with the Archdiocese of Atlanta to run Christmas Connections. This program gives over 900 struggling families special gifts from our community and celebrates the true meaning of the season.
Catholic Charities Atlanta supports the work of the Archdiocese of Atlanta by helping families achieve self-sufficiency and stability through 9 service areas and 20 + programs. Catholic Charities Atlanta is funded partly through contributions to the Archbishop’s Annual Appeal. Additionally, the Archdiocese of Atlanta supports Catholic Charities Atlanta with a Second Collection at Christmas.
For Christie Crane, Christmas Connections is one of the most heartwarming parts of her job as the Assistant Director of Volunteer & Partner Resources at Catholic Charities Atlanta.
Christie has been changing the lives of many over the past several years at Catholic Charities Atlanta. Crane oversees the recruiting and onboarding processes for the volunteer resources team at Catholic Charities Atlanta. This includes spearheading the volunteer program for Christmas Connections.
Christie puts her faith into action by connecting people to resources, and she gets to do this by working with Catholic Charities Atlanta volunteers to interview struggling families in Atlanta and ask what gifts they would like to receive for the holiday season.
What makes Christmas Connections unique is that the Christmas presents are based on specific requests directly from the families. By interviewing these families, they discover valuable information such as the color of a child’s bedroom walls so they can receive matching décor or the size and color of a desired blanket, so it matches the family’s living room.
The joy of seeing these families get to have a Christmas is contagious. Seeing their faces light up as the volunteers fill their cars or hand them their boxes of gifts is priceless. It truly shows the Christmas spirit.
“We are so grateful for this collaboration with the parishes and the opportunity to work so closely with them and their communities. We truly couldn’t provide this program without them. We are awed and humbled at the generosity of the parishioners and the effort they give to the families we serve”
–Christie Crane, Catholic Charities Atlanta
Christie encourages all to sign up to buy Christmas gifts for these local families by contacting the parishes below:
Cathedral of Christ the King, Atlanta
St. Jude the Apostle, Sandy Springs
