Every year, Emerson takes on a wonderful service project to help children and families who receive DCFS services. Julie Flyke, speech pathologist at Emerson, is the lead person who organizes and implements this program. I asked her to provide some background to this project:
Being a Santa and buying gifts for children within the Department of Child and Family Services (DFCS) program has always been something that I have done at Christmas time. When I came to Emerson about 16 years ago, a couple of teachers heard what I was doing and asked if I could get them a “wish list”. The following year a few more teachers heard of these “DCFS wish lists” and 10 children were taken care of. As the years passed, teachers started involving their students in this simple act of kindness. It eventually snowballed into core team’s: “Community Service Project” or “Service Learning Project”.
This year alone, 100 wards of the state will have their wishes granted! Since I’ve started here at Emerson, approximately 1,600 wish lists have been fulfilled! Gifts that were purchased were not only toys, but clothes and necessities such as socks, hats, winter coats, boots, bedding and school supplies. This event grew so large, that aside from individual lists, Emerson’s staff took on whole family units who were enrolled in the DCFS system. Those wishes were for food items for holiday dinners such as ham, canned vegetables, cookies, and juice. I’ve even delivered donations of Christmas trees and lights, decorations to hang, holiday wreaths and seasonal books to read to the little ones. It currently takes three separate pick up dates to collect and load all the gifts and send them on their way to their owners!
Most importantly, all of these kind acts are done anonymously. All gifts are wrapped and tagged - From: Santa. There are no screams of "Thank you!”, “I love it!" or “You shouldn't have!". Instead, what Emerson’s staff and students receive is simply the gratifying feeling that they have made a difference in someone’s life. In the hustle and bustle of it all, it reminds us that for some -holidays are not always filled with warm memories. But we have a chance to change that! This yearly event at Emerson has turned into more than just buying a gift for another person, it has grown into a lesson in unconditional love. Emerson’s students and staff are truly generous in spirit.