Our Mission
The purpose of the Christmas in July event is to provide a ray of hope to the homeless children of the County and their parents – to show that “someone cares” – and also provide a day of fun and frolic.
The Beginning of Christmas in July
In 2002, Kiwanis Division 23 organized the first ever Christmas in July to help support the homeless children of Broward County. Kiwanis Division 23, which consists of 15 clubs throughout Broward County, is part of Kiwanis International, a largest service organization in the world.
Background
Homelessness is a complex socio-economic problem that has baffled communities for many years. There is no “quick fix” for the millions of homeless Americans, including over one million homeless children. It occurs in every city throughout the United States and, unfortunately, Broward County is no exception. Many of our County’s children list no home address when they attend school because they are living in shelters or on the streets. These children do not end up in homeless facilities, or on the streets, due to any fault of their own – but due to unfortunate circumstances. Here are some homeless statistics which may startle you:
- There are over 10,000 homeless men, women, and children in Broward County on any given day – and the majority of these are children.
- The homeless rate in Broward County has doubled over the past two years.
- Over 93% of the homeless in the County are U.S. citizens.
- The average age of a homeless person is 9 years.
- There are at least 2,500 homeless children in the County school system throughout the school year. This excludes the thousands of homeless children under the age of 5.
