O’Fallon Ice Hockey Club adopts a family for Christmas

The O’Fallon Ice Hockey Club adopted a family from the O’Fallon Sgt. Charles E. Fricke Post 805 Veterans of Foreign Wars for the holidays for the first time. OIHC had not done community service before and wanted to help give back this year, so the club reached out to the VFW to see if there was a family in need.

There is a family struggling during this holiday season with the mother in the hospital and her five children are being taken care of by the oldest daughter. The OIHC reached out to their parents for donations to help provide the family with gifts. They raised more than $600 for the family.

A group from the club went shopping, wrapped the gifts, presented them to the children on Sunday, Dec. 18. The OIHC were able to watch the kids open their gifts, and the club treasurer Stacy Dill said the children were very thankful for all that was done for them.

In addition, since the club raised more than expected, they were also able to help the family pay some of their outstanding bills — a gift that will alleviate pressure off of the mother, as well as to ensure the family has all that they need throughout the holidays.

This story was originally published December 29, 2016 at 11:06 AM with the headline "O’Fallon Ice Hockey Club adopts a family for Christmas."