PITTSBURGH — The holidays can be hard for those who have lost a loved one.
A local mother knows that pain all too well.
After losing her own son, Adrienne Young started the Tree of Hope.
For the last 25 years, the nonprofit has been providing toys and a holiday dinner to children who have lost a parent to violence.
“Tree of Hope actually began because of her, because of Tajaya,” Young said.
Adrienne Young started the group after her own son was murdered. She was left to help raise her now adult granddaughter, Tajaya.
“What we do is so important. The mothers and struggling grandmothers who are left behind. All they have is enough for rent and bills; they don’t have extra money to buy toys,” Young said.
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But the organization is facing its biggest challenge yet. With the months-long delay in passing a state budget, the Tree of Hope and other nonprofits have not been able to access the state funding that has dried up.
“The grant program she would have normally gotten funding for, $10,000 from the state, aren’t even open for applications, let alone paid out,” State Representative Abigail Salisbury said.
Understanding the pain of losing a parent at a young age, State Rep. Abigail Salisbury is helping the group with a GoFundMe.
“My own father died when I was a kid also, in the 1990s, and it’s hard to be a kid left behind when you lose a parent,” Salisbury said.
As we get closer to Christmas, the Tree of Hope is asking for people to give to kids who have lost so much already.
“Your help is appreciated because you’re putting smiles and joy into different households all across Allegheny County and surrounding counties,” Tree of Hope Executive Director Wayne Scott said.
If you’d like to support Tree of Hope’s mission, you can donate to the organization’s GoFundMe page.’
The group is also accepting toys at the Eastminster Presbyterian Church at 250 N Highland Avenue in East Liberty.
Tree of Hope is hosting a party and dinner for kids on Friday, Dec. 19, at 6 p.m.
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