Former adoptee hopes to create holiday miracles for others

Riley Funk, St. Joseph News-Press, Mo.
·2 min read

Dec. 18—One local woman is hoping to spread some holiday cheer this season by giving back to the program that once brought Christmas to her and her family.

Colby Richardson, formally of Hopkins, Missouri, once found herself and three children in need and without gifts. For three years, AFL-CIO's Adopt-A-Family program made the holidays possible for her family.

"They were able to provide a wonderful Christmas for my children, and it was always a blessing to have them," Richardson said.

Now, Richardson, a current manager at Buffalo Wild Wings and mother of four, is assisting AFL-CIO with the help of restaurant staff.

She was inspired to help through a women's leadership group within the restaurant chain. Richardson wanted to make an impact on the St. Joseph community because she wanted to motivate and inspire others to help out as well.

After getting the approval from her general manager, Richardson said this program has kept her busy for over a month. Having staff band together to make a difference was a very rewarding experience.

"We kind of just decided as a group that this year, we really wanted to donate more than just buying each other small gifts. So our team chose to use our Christmas party money that we would have used for gifts to donate towards the Adopt-A-Family," Richardson said.

By pooling donations together, the staff has been able to provide for two families. Richardson said that every donation goes a long way.

"We were able to buy necessities, food, toys, clothes ... we were able to buy more than what we thought," Richardson said. "We had cooks that were involved, cashiers that were involved, servers, managers ... we just pulled together as a team."

Richardson said the group wants to donate and help out again next year with the hope of reaching many more local families. In the meantime, the hope is to assist AFL-CIO Community Services in the summertime with the Soles For Christ program, which helps area kids get a new pair of shoes for the school year.

"It's just very heartwarming to know that the community still can pull together and we can help wherever needed," Richardson said.

There is still time to donate to AFL-CIO for the Adopt-A-Family program. Gifts for Adopt-A-Family can be dropped off at the Community Services building at 1203 N Sixth St. until Dec. 24.

Riley Funk can be reached at riley.funk@newspressnow.com.