Celebrating its 14th year, JOY to the Children, Inc. recently revised its mission statement to expand the organization's outreach further into the community. The new mission statement reads: "Joy to the Children, Inc. is an organization with the primary purpose of hosting a celebration on Christmas Day for children of economically disadvantaged families in Nassau County, FL; Joy to the Children will actively champion other activities that assist children in need. The board feels it is time to use its influence and resources to help children in Nassau County throughout the year by not only providing gifts, but also by providing opportunities."

JOY to the Children is an all-volunteer charitable organization that relies heavily upon the generosity of our community to donate funds and volunteer hours so that JOY may provide much needed items to local children and their families, particularly at Christmas. New clothing, toys, backpacks filled with school supplies, hygiene stocking stuffers, and age-appropriate books are purchased for each child referred to JOY by school counselors, teachers and program administrators.

This year, JOY was chosen by Stein Mart as their local charity, which means in addition to the generosity of our community, JOY will be receiving new clothing from manufacturers across the nation through the Dignity U Wear program in Jacksonville. In light of this, JOY is reaching out to Micah's Place on a case-by-case basis to provide children in desperate need of new clothing, backpacks and school supplies, and maybe a comfort toy throughout the year, as well as for the children at Christmastime.

If you would like to become involved with Joy to the Children, please contact Sandy Balzer at 491-6146 or Caroline Tunkel, Volunteer Coordinator, at 491-8518.