SOUTHFIELD, Mich. – Christmas is in jeopardy Monday night for hundreds of needy families in Southfield and Lathrup Village after the Southfield Goodfellows announced there is a serious space problem. They are putting out a plea for help.
The Goodfellows rely on donated office space, and the spot they've used for the last five years now has a paying tenant who has the charity scrambling.
"We are in some trouble right now," Iris Thompson, president of the Southfield Goodfellows, said. "This is really when we get started."
Their operation for Christmas meals and presents should have started in August, but due to the space problem, they haven't been able to get going. Now the clock is quickly running down.
"I'd say the absolute latest that we could get set up would probably be Nov. 1," Thompson said.
So far, the charity has been aggressively looking for space, but it hasn't found anything that works. If it doesn't find something by Nov. 1, it could mean no Christmas presents to open and worries that donors won't come back.
"We'll have to go back to these donors and possibly ask them, in lieu of wrapped gifts, maybe they could provide gift cards," Thompson said.
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