A Short Creek Christmas, How You Can Help

Last updated on: December 7, 2017 at 11:53 am by Lindsay Hansen Park

A Short Creek Christmas, How You Can Help 2017-12-07T11:53:01-06:00 Lindsay Hansen Park

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Over the past few years there have been many changes in the once FLDS controlled twin cities of

Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Arizona. A public school has reopened, a community election
was held, businesses and families are moving back in to town. Even amid those positive changes,
there is still much healing from trauma, family reunification and economic empowerment that
needs to take place.

Listen to the podcast episode that covers the history of holidays in the FLDS.

For the past three years, I have helped locals in the town organize a variety of Christmas service projects for the town members as they get on their feet. As more and more people leave the FLDS, this time of year is especially jarring and disorienting. Many of them will experience Christmas this year, for the first time ever.

Image result for free christmas stock art

This holiday season, Cherish Families 501(c)3, along with a group of local non-profits is hosting
two events with the purpose of helping facilitate family reunification, self-determination and
community interaction.
December 8th we are hosting a private Christmas dinner and gift giving event, A Magical
Winter’s Eve that will serve 40 families from Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Arizona. This event
allows parents to attend a dinner with community peers, socialize, enjoy entertainment and pick
out individual gifts for their children. Many are single mothers that are just becoming financially
independent, trying to afford Christmas often takes them off target and leaves them starting the
new-year in debt. This event helps keep families on track and helps relieve stress so parents can
focus on continuing to achieve their goals. We will also serve families that may be experiencing
Christmas for the first time.
December 9th is our Christmas Craft Extravaganza for all ages. We will have a visit from Santa
Clause, a photo booth, raffle for prizes, craft booths and games. This event is meant to bring
community together as well as provide families with positive interactions. In addition, it helps
create new family traditions to hold onto.

We need your help to meet our mission. I know you receive many requests for assistance at this
time of year. My hope is that you can help us assist these vulnerable families with a small
donation. Below is a list of donations needed. We are teaming up with The Tapir Signal, a subreddit of all kinds of Mormons, and the Ex-Jehovah Witness sub, to help fill the list of need.

PLEASE CHECK OUT THE LIST OF NEEDS HERE.

If you want to donate toys and games, click here.

We have arranged three drop-off points for donations. They will be in Salt Lake, Utah Valley, and St. George. When you fill out the form above, please indicate which drop-off location works best for you and we will email you the address.

We are also accepting direct-mail for items off of Amazon. Those items can be shipped to:

Short Creek Dream Center
980 W Field Avenue
#843010
Hildale, UT 84784

(The address might not recognize the address, but it’s legit!)

For those who can’t donate things but would like to give monetary donations, please donate to Cherish Families here. There is a donate button on the top of the website. You money will go to sustainable building in the community.

You can also contribute financially to The Fern Foundation, the org I set up to do our yearly services projects for Short Creek.

Thanks for being a part of this and making someone’s Christmas a little brighter.

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