Charities Lend Hand to Wild Fire Victims

By Jacqueline Sit, NEWS 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The recovery effort from the 70 homes that were destroyed by wildfires is still well underway.

Many families are still in need and local charities are doing their best to meet those needs.

The Red Cross isn't the only agency helping families in need, they partner with other non-profits like Christmas Connection and this week alone, they've seen fire victims every day.

At the Christmas Connection, the non-profit agency provides to families in need beyond the holidays, and with the recent fires, more families are coming in for help.

"This year, there seems to be so many fire families and they're just coming in from houses and apartments and various fires in the city," Executive Director of Christmas Connection Valerie Finley said.

They help fire victims with basic needs, toys for the kids and necessities to help families start over again.

"Most of the families have lost everything and sometimes it may be just a bedroom fire, but a lot of fires they lost everything and we're able to replace everything in their house," The Christmas Connection volunteer Carol Bahajak said.

Now, the agency is running out of household items.

"We are very fortunate in getting lots of clothing items, but it's all those miscellaneous things around your house that we don't have," Bahajak said.

With the influx of need, they're in dire need of donations from furniture to pots, plates and pans.

"It feels really good that they can have something that can still be a memory to them," Bahajak said.

They've helped nearly half a dozen families so far this week and they're expecting to help many more people in the coming days.

To Donate to the Christmas Connection:

325 S.W. 25th St.
P.O. Box 891020 (mailing address )
Oklahoma City, OK 73189

Office Hours
Monday - Friday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. (Evenings and weekend times vary)

Phone: (405) 634-2006

Fax: (405) 605-2111

Cell: (405) 408-3589

E-mail:  christmasconnection@hotmail.com