Texans Moms adopt Family for Christmas
By Yolande Lezine
Forward Times Sports Writer

Six Houston Texans players moms adopted a family of eight for Christmas for the La Rosa Family Services 2nd Annual Holiday Party and Adopt a Family Program, held at the Harris County Building , located at 6300 Irvington.
The project was a combined effort of Karen Johnson(Andre), Mary Williams(Mary), Emily Jones(Jacoby), Sadie Cochran(Earl’s sister), Martha Ryans (DeMeco), and Debbie Schaub (Matt).

The Rosemond Family, a single-parent home with seven children were so excited to meet the four mothers in attendance at the event, but it was the kids who were more exited about the gifts that they had brought.

“We were able to take the families wish list and a list of things that they needed to shop with,” Karen Johnson said. “There was no particular price limit on anything, we just decided to buy what we wanted.”

The mission of La Rosa Family Services is to assist victims of domestic violence and abuse, to prevent future abuse, and to promote the health and safety of children by raising community awareness, empowering individuals, and offering positive alternatives to families.

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Black Newspaper’s Yuletide Gift

Giving honor to Jesus the Christ’s spirit of humility, Houston Forward Times chose an inclusive heading. And we certainly would be remiss to omit Kwanzaa’s festivities (December, 26, 2008- January. 1, 2009) into an ever expanding Yuletide Season that has been commercialized to extend from Black Friday to New Year’s morning…to wish all concerned Happy Holidays. Even so, when one gives gifts-- that ideally keep on giving-- the reason, or the season, is only tradition. Accordingly, Christmas is an excellent time for FT to share our gift of empowerment with the community, via news and issues germane to Black America’s survival.

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DIDDY FILMS 'CSI MIAMI' APPEARANCE: Rap mogul guest stars as a defense attorney; episode to air during Feb. sweeps.

Sean "Diddy" Combs added another line to his acting resume last week. The entertainment mogul finished filming a guest role on CBS' hit drama "CSI: Miami" for an episode scheduled to air in February 2009, reports People.com.

Diddy said he agreed to take the role of defense attorney Derek Powell only after meeting with network executives and telling them, "I don't want to play no musician, I don't want to play a criminal – none of those stereotypical things. I want to play a lawyer."

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Johnson hosts 80-second Shopping Spree
By Yolande Lezine
Forward Times Sports Writer

Houston Texans wide receiver Andre Johnson held “The Amazing Christmas Race” shopping spree at Toy-R-Us , located at 1212 Old Spanish Trail near Reliant Stadium.

The event, which was sponsored by The Andre Johnson Foundation, gave 12 kids, ages 8-16 the opportunity to go on a shopping spree second to none, and they only had 80 seconds to do it.

The kids, who were selected by Child Protective Services ran as fast as they could with their baskets and filled them with the latest, top-selling toys and games. Hannah Montana, High School Musical, and Barbie were the favorites amongst the girls, while the boys were into electronics, board games, and action figures.

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