Employees Help Make Thanksgiving Special for Families of Local Nonprofit

WWT and Angels' Arms continue their longstanding local partnership

For the second year in a row, members from WWT's Business Development team delivered Thanksgiving meals to five Angels' Arms families. Angels' Arms is dedicated to providing and supporting loving homes for foster children by keeping brothers and sisters together within a nurturing family until a forever home is found. The organization operates 11 family homes scattered throughout the St. Louis region including multiple homes in Ballwin, O'Fallon and South County.

The Monday before Thanksgiving we delivered a truckload of food to the nonprofit's office in South County: four 10-pound turkeys, two hams, more than 50 pounds of potatoes and all of the trimmings, totaling well over $1,000 for five Angels' Arms families.

Javon Coleman, a business development analyst with WWT, witnessed firsthand the passion Angels' Arms has for their families during his time living in one of the Angels' Arms homes. Looking to give back, he asked the WWT Business Development team to kick off the holiday season by paying it forward and rallying for five families.

"While social responsibility is, and always has been deeply engraved in the DNA of World Wide, this opportunity to give back was a no-brainer," Coleman said. "This was an amazing experience for our team, for which I and members of the Business Development team are extremely grateful. We look forward to continuing the tradition next year as well as offering continual support of Angels' Arms and their initiatives."

When people first hear of Angels' Arms, often they assume the nonprofit just provides a house for foster parents to live in and accept children who are under state care. Although those are two very important components, Angels' Arms prides themselves on providing opportunities for family outings as part of giving kids the opportunity to learn from experience all that a loving home life encompasses.

Some families have had up to six children at a time from the same family living with them. Things many of us often take for granted, such as big holiday meals, birthday parties, taking music lessons or joining a sports team, wouldn't be an option for foster families operating solely on a state stipend. A majority of foster children are considered high risk and activities and holiday traditions help open these children up to a broader sense of community.

For more information about Angels' Arms or to make a donation, please visit: www.angelsarms.org.