Father Lonnie Lacy, priest at St. Anne’s Episcopal Church, spoke about Family Promise at the Oct. 15 meeting of the Tifton City Council. Family Promise will also be receiving donations from the Polar Bear Plunge.

TIFTON — ‘Tis the season of giving and those looking for a worthy charity to donate to need look no further than the charities being highlighted at the Polar Bear Plunge.

The Polar Bear Plunge is hosted by the Tiftarea YMCA for area non-profits.

Each of the contestants is competing to raise the most money for their chosen charity. The winner will receive 100 percent of the proceeds for their charity so long as they slide down the water slide into the plunge pool.

The runners-up will receive half of the funds they raised for their charity and the other half will go to the YMCA to help fund their free swimming lesson program.

Contestants will take the plunge at 11 a.m. on Jan. 1 at the Stafford Aquatics Center (1823 Westover Rd.).

Charities involved include:

• Called to Care — Ted McElroy

Called to Care is a faith-based organization that seeks to “ease the suffering of vulnerable children domestically and abroad by engaging and equipping the body of Christ in our community to minister through adoption, foster care and missions.”

The organization focuses on children in foster care by:

– providing for the material needs of children in foster care,

– educating the community about fostering,

– supporting foster and biological families,

– providing education and resources for families who are adopting

– sending teams to China and Uganda to minister to orphans.

• Coastal Plain CASA — Jana Barfield

CASA, which stands for Court Appointed Special Advocates, is a group of volunteers who work to help foster care children find safe, permanent homes. Each volunteer advocate is trained to be a voice for the best interests of the child and make recommendations to the court about those best interests.

• Family Promise — Darian Peavy

Family Promise of Tiftarea is an organization that wants to help families in the Tift area who are homeless. While there are shelters for only men, only women and children and pregnant women, families who want to stay togethedon’t have anywhere to go. Family Promise wants to help homeless families stay together in a safe place until they can obtain safe, permanent housing.

Family Promise of Tiftarea is working to unite 13 churches to act as hosts for homeless families throughout the year. Efforts have been underway since 2015 to recruit churches, raise necessary funds for a day center and a 15-passenger van and hire an executive director.

• Hospice of Tiftarea — Vicki Taft

Hospice of Tiftarea provides support for those with a limited life expectancy and their families. They focus on relieving pain and making them as comfortable as possible so the patient can make the most of the time they have left. Hospice of Tiftarea also provides supportive care to patients’ families and caregivers during and after the illness.

While services are covered by Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance, hospice care is provided based on need rather than ability to pay. Hospice of Tiftarea also helps meet non-medical needs that arise as a consequence of the illness, such as help paying for groceries, gas and utilities.

• Save Our Pets — Renata Elad

Save Our Pets is part of the Tift County Animal Shelter and works to provide supplies for shelter animals and get them into loving forever homes.

• Meals on Wheels — Bret Wagenhorst

The Meals on Wheels program provides a hot lunch delivered to homebound or limited-mobility seniors with nutritional needs five days a week.

• Patticake House — Wingate Whitley

The Patticake House is a child advocacy center which provides forensic interviews for children who have been suspected of having been severely physically abused, sexually abused and/or have witnessed severe family violence. The interview, which investigates and collects evidence from the child, is crucial to learning what happened and how best to help the child.

In 2018 Patticake House began a Pediatric SANE program, which will prevent children from the Tift County Judicial Circuit from having to wait for the exam and be transported 45 minutes away or more.

• Pregnancy Care Center of Tiftarea — Jennifer Woodall

The Pregnancy Care Center is a faith-based, pro-life pregnancy center. They provide pregnancy testing, ultrasound exams, selective STI testing, pregnancy options consultation and follow-up throughout the decision-making process.

• Ruth’s Cottage — Mike Beeman

Ruth’s Cottage is a domestic violence program which includes an emergency shelter for women and children, a 24/7 crisis line and legal advocates who provide assistance with applying for temporary protective orders, do lethality assessments and develop safety plans. Ruth’s Cottage works to educate and provide community awareness on family and domestic violence, sexual assault and consent. Ruth’s Cottage began a capital campaign to fund a new facility in 2018. They broke ground on that facility in December and are fundraising to help with expenses.

• Tift County Commission on Children and Youth — Staci Griffin

The Tift County Commission on Children and Youth is a non-profit collaborative organization and works to improve the conditions for children, families and communities by fostering relationships with local partners, increasing policymakers’ awareness of local issues and leveraging additional funding to support the community.

• Young Life — TJ Mauldin

Young Life is a multicultural ministry that focuses on kids in diverse cultural communities and economically-depressed areas, introducing them to Jesus Christ and helping them grow in their faith. Young Life has ministries at the high school, middle schools and at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College and are working to develop a network of leaders and committee members who will serve specific communities within the county.

Donations are accepted at the YMCA, located at 1657 S. Carpenter Road and on the YMCA’s website at www.tiftareaymca.org.