Eight-Year-Old Working to Help Other Kids at Christmastime

If you need a cup of hot chocolate this weekend, head for Altamont. You can help some kids get some Christmas presents in the process.

Eight-year-old Jonah Jansen posted on Facebook that he is part of a big family that loves him a lot. He knows, though, that there are some kids in foster care who don't get to spend the holidays with their families, and that makes him sad. That led Jonah to start a project he is calling "Fostering Christmas One Toy at a Time" and start to gather donations for Caritas Family Solutions in Effingham. The donations are being collected for distribution to kids in foster care as Christmas gifts. 

Josie Wallace, manager for the Caritas office in Effingham, said once a post went on Facebook about the effort, all of the foster kids monitored by Caritas received gifts. That's 220 kids, by the way. Jonah's efforts are supplementing those gifts. 

Jonah sold lemonade during warmer weather; now he has switched to hot chocolate. He will be selling hot chocolate this weekend at his home at 106 S. Main Street in Altamont. Hours for the sale are 4:15 to 6pm Friday, and 9:30am to 4pm both Saturday and Sunday.