By Stephen E. Terrell, volunteer creative director, Project Noelle
In Summary:
After losing her daughter Noelle to an overdose, Keli Clark founded Project Noelle in 2017 to provide Christmas gifts for children affected by parental addiction. The nonprofit now serves children in 41 counties across Ohio and Florida through holiday programs, school supplies, activities, and other support. Its free Red Ribbon Spooktacular runs from 1 to 3 pm on October 24. It welcomes all families for costumes, contests, and an age-appropriate prevention message.
*****
On Saturday, October 24, the Apopka Community Center will fill up with superheroes, princesses, and a few dinosaurs. The event will include a coloring contest, a poster contest, and prizes. From the parking lot, it will look like any other Halloween party in Central Florida.
But it's a little more than that.
Every child is welcome, and some are carrying something most adults never see: a mom or dad who died of an overdose, who is in jail, or who is still deep in addiction.
Related: Pumpkins’ journey from ancient food staple to spicy fall obsession spans thousands of years.
Project Noelle exists for those children. We would love for you to come meet us.
It started with one mother and one Christmas
Project Noelle began in Sandusky, Ohio, with a phone call. Keli Clark's daughter, Noelle, had been fighting addiction, and a treatment bed was finally opening for her. She was due there at noon on a Sunday.
Noelle died of an overdose eleven hours before she was supposed to arrive. She was 35.
She left children behind. Keli, a grandmother who thought her child-raising years were over, stepped in. As that first Christmas approached, she noticed how many other kids around her were living the same story, with a grandparent or an aunt doing their best to fill a space no one could.
Her daughter's name was Noelle. It was Christmas. Keli decided those children would have one.
That was the whole plan, in December 2017. Within two years, the Christmas list held more than 600 children in eight Ohio counties. Keli would later lose her son Michael, Noelle's younger brother, to the same epidemic.
She kept going.
Project Noelle Today
Today, Project Noelle is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit serving children in 41 counties: 31 in Ohio and 10 here in Florida. Each county has a local director, a neighbor who knows the families by name.
We serve the youngest victims of the opioid epidemic. They are children whose parents have died, are incarcerated, or are in active addiction. Many are being raised by grandparents who never planned on a second round of school shoes and science fairs.
What we do is practical. OurAdopt-A-Child program makes sure there are Christmas gifts chosen for each child by name. We also provide Easter baskets and egg hunts, summer picnics, back-to-school supplies, and school clothes. A hundred dollars puts a child in cleats and a uniform so she can play on the team with her friends. We run peer support groups and school-based prevention education.
None of it is complicated. A child should never be the one who pays for a parent's addiction. A kid who has lost that much should still get to be a kid.
You're invited: Red Ribbon Spooktacular
Red Ribbon Week, the national drug-prevention campaign, runs October 23 through 31. We mark it the way children would want us to: in costume.
Costumes are welcome but not required. We're also hosting coloring and poster contests with a prevention theme and prizes. The fun is real, and so is the message underneath it. Kids hear "say no" all the time. They hear it differently in a room full of neighbors who showed up for them.
You don't need a connection to Project Noelle to come. Bring your children, your grandchildren, your scout troop. Please RSVP at community.projectnoelle.com so we know how many to plan for.
Neighbors in Lake County can join us two days earlier, on Thursday, October 22, at the Eustis Community Center. Details are at the same link.
How you can help
We always need volunteers. In Florida, that means hands at events like this one, help with Christmas and Easter, and people willing to serve as county directors so the children in their own community have someone year-round. If you have two hours or two days, we have a place for you.
We always need donations, and we mean it when we say any size helps. A few dollars is a box of crayons and a backpack. A little more is a winter coat or a Christmas morning. You can give at projectnoelle.com.
If you own or work for a company and want to get involved, call or email us. Sponsor an event, adopt a group of children for Christmas, or bring your team out to volunteer. Call (833) 418-7770 or write to Keli Clark at keliclark@projectnoelle.org. A real person will answer, and we will find the right fit.
And if you are raising a child who has lost a parent to addiction, Adopt-A-Child Christmas applications for Florida families are open until Sunday, November 8, at 5:00 pm.
Noelle never made it to that Sunday appointment. Her mother has spent every year since making sure other people's children don't have to carry that kind of loss alone.
Come see what that looks like. Saturday, October 24, 1:00 pm Bring the kids. Wear the costume.
Stephen E. Terrell is the volunteer creative director of Project Noelle, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in Sandusky, Ohio. Learn more at projectnoelle.com.
Key Points:
-
A mission rooted in loss: Keli Clark started Project Noelle after her 35-year-old daughter died of an overdose, leaving children behind.
-
Support across two states: The nonprofit serves children in 31 Ohio counties and 10 Florida counties whose parents have died, are incarcerated, or are in active addiction.
-
Free Apopka event: The Red Ribbon Spooktacular takes place October 24 from 1 to 3 pm at the Apopka Community Center, 519 S. Central Ave.
-
All families welcome: Costumes are optional, and activities include coloring and prevention-themed poster contests with prizes. Please RSVP at community.projectnoelle.com.
-
Ways to get involved: Project Noelle seeks volunteers, donations, and business support. Florida Adopt-A-Child Christmas applications remain open until 5 pm November 8.
