DTE Makes Christmas Merrier For 500 Foster Kids

DETROIT (WWJ) - DTE Energy is lighting up Christmas for local kids in foster care.

Through the Operation Good Cheer drive, 500 foster children will write out their holiday wish list and more than 300 DTE employees make them come true.

WWJ's Chrystal Knight talked with DTE spokesman Scott Simons.

"I could be anything from bicycles to jewelry, to electronics to clothing," Simons said. "It's really a sight to see when all the employees of DTE bring in their gifts into the lobby and they're all wrapped and ready to go. It's a huge Christmas."

Simons said close to 3,000 wrapped gifts will fill DTE headquarters on Bagley in Detroit on Friday.

The gifts, including toys, electronics, bikes and clothing, will eventually be delivered to Child and Family Services of Michigan in Lansing.

Child & Family Services started the holiday gift-giving program in 1971 to help infants, children and teenagers have a merrier Christmas. More than 4,000 kids are provided with gifts each year to open on Christmas morning. Since the drive's inception, nearly 70,000 kids have had their dreams come true as a result of Operation Good Cheer.