We’ve got answers to the most frequently asked Adopt A Family questions.

Who participates in Adopt A Family?

Most of the families who participate are either families that Volunteers of America Delaware Valley is serving in other ways, such as through our shelters, our reentry programs, our treatment program and more. Other families were enrolled by our community partner programs. These families are from South Jersey from Trenton to Atlantic City, Philadelphia, and the surrounding area.

How do you verify need for the participating families?

VOADV programs are designed to help our region’s most vulnerable individuals and families. Our clients have demonstrated need by the nature of being with us.

We give our program partners a limited number of spaces. These organizations serve similarly vulnerable populations, such as at-risk youth, children in foster care, families affected by domestic violence, or children with severe disabilities. We trust that our community partners can best assess the needs of their clients.

The general public families are vetted by staff who review documentation and verify need. Unfortunately, our program has many more applicants than spaces that we can fill.

Do you ever sell or split the presents?

Absolutely not. Presents are never sold, split, or given to a family other than the family they were purchased for.

How do I get involved?

You can directly adopt a family, make a monetary donation, shop the Amazon wish list, or get your friends, family, or workplace involved and do a group adoption.

How do I know I successfully adopted a family on Roonga?

You will receive an email from Roonga with the details of your adopted family. The email will have the link to your family’s profile. It will also have instructions for drop off, the drop off locations, and a link back to Roonga itself. We suggest that you save this email so you can reference it back.

Do I have to buy all of the items on the wish list?

You do not. You can buy some, or all of the items on the wish list. We do ask that you ensure that you have included one fun present, one essential present, and a grocery store gift card for the family to have a holiday meal.

Do the presents have to be wrapped?

They do not. Some participants wrap the presents and some participants do not. If you’re unsure, one option is to leave the presents unwrapped, and then include wrapping material for the parents to use.

These sizes look wrong

Kids are bigger than we think. Parents oftentimes will pick a size up so that their kids can grow into the clothing. This is often a time for parents to get essential items for their kids for the whole year. If the size seems incredibly off, please contact us at aaf@voadv.org or 856-854-4660 and we will be happy to find out for you.

I’m ready to bring in my gifts. What are my next steps?

Please check that you have everything for the family BEFORE you bring them to your drop off site. 1,000 families is 3,000 kids and many thousands of presents. That’s a lot to keep track of. You can make it much easier for us to ensure that all of the presents get to the correct family by bringing them all at once, and not breaking up the drop off.

Please label all gifts with the family ID number and the name of the recipient (like C001 Marley). You can bring them loose, you can bring them in boxes, or in bags. However is best for you to transport them works for us.

Where do I go?

What are the important dates?

Family profiles are live on the first Monday in October. October 5, 2026. Gift drop off begins any time after this.

The Ben FM Radiothon is December 10, 2026 from 6 am to 6 pm at the Cherry Hill Mall.

Profiles can be selected until December 12.

The deadline to drop off gifts is December 15.