CHOSEN & Ohio Helping Hands
WHAT IS HELPING HANDS?
In June 2021, JCFilms will be producing a faith and family feature filmed called CHOSEN! The film will star Dean Cain, Heather Habura, and Eddie McClintock and will be shot near and around Akron, OHIO.
Beyond making an entertaining film, our goal is to leave a lasting effect on the lives of those involved in adoption and foster parenting in Ohio. To do this, JCFilms is creating a non-profit organization called Helping Hands Ohio.
"We don’t just want to make a film to make a film. We want to make a film that will change and benefit the lives of children,” Jason Campbell, Producer & Director.
You see, the theme of this multi-plot movie is about empowering people to get involved. On any given day in Ohio, nearly 16,000 children are being cared for in foster care. This number is expected to increase as the number of foster parents are decreasing.
CHOSEN does highlight the beauty of adoption and foster parenting, but it also shows challenges many adoptive and foster parents endure. It is a depiction on how communities and people of faith come together to help and support these many challenges.
“Realistically, not everyone can be a foster or adoptive parent, we get that. But everyone can give a helping hand,” Campbell said.
Thus, we are creating Ohio Helping Hands to follow the blueprints echoed in the film to help people find ways to support foster and adoptive families.
Simply put, Ohio Helping Hands will provide parents and children in foster care or adoption situations with programs that promote safety, permanency, and community.
HOW ARE WE GOING TO DO IT?
We anticipate over 200 people will be involved in the production of the film CHOSEN. The cast itself requires over 40 characters. In addition, to date we have had hundreds of individuals and families expressing to get involved. Our goal is to use the enthusiasm from the production and the release of the film to start the Ohio Helping Hand initiative.
WHAT IS NEEDED?
Beyond the actors we need to facilitate important production teams that work behind the scenes to make the film successful. From hair & make-up, craft services to location mangers, we are looking to fill several volunteer teams.
WHAT IS HELPING HANDS GOING TO DO?
Our programs consist of several initial projects as presented in the film. Each of these programs are designed to get help, to lend a helping hand, and to adoptive and foster parents and their families.
Basic Needs Campaign
Provide children with a safe place to sleep and more, including twin beds, cribs, clothing, diapers, wipes, educational activities, and personal hygiene kits.
Back to School
Prepare children for success in school with backpacks, supplies, and uniforms.
Birthday Dreams
Celebrate children with personalized birthday packages filled with toys, games, books, and puzzles to lift their self-esteem.
Foster Footlockers
Create peace of mind for children by providing a safe place to store personal keepsakes and belongings.
Safety Campaign
Ensure a safe home environment with fire extinguishers, first aid kits, and more to meet Ohio’s Safety Inspection requirements.
Helping Hands Church Closet
To help churches organize foster parent date night, where volunteers from the church host the foster kids while the parents get a much wanted date night.