Sponsor a Child, and Make a Holiday Wish Come True!
This Christmas, more than 2,000 children in San Joaquin County will have at least one parent who is incarcerated. For those children, holidays can be a difficult time. Money might be tight. There is a stigma that goes along with having a parent in prison. Most of all, it's a holiday when the family will not be together.
That's why Friends Outside will hold its 15th annual Holiday Wish program in 2026. We identify kids who qualify, interview the caregiver, and purchase two items the child needs and two items the child wants. The child attends a holiday party at our "North Pole" in our Stockton office, where they receive their gifts direclty from Santa.
Your gift of $200 will support two "wants" and two "needs" for a child. Please support a child's Holiday Wish this year!
Sponsor a Holiday Wish today!
Facts about children and incarceration
- On any given day, there are an estimated 5 million children in America with at least one parent in prison or jail.
- 1 in every 100 adults in America is in jail or prison.
- An estimated 2.7 million children in California have a parent currently in California’s adult criminal justice system, including approximately 195,000 who have parents in a state prison.
- For 70 years, Friends Outside has been providing services to incarcerated and reentering people, their families and communities.