FAMILIES BENEFIT FROM ELVES FUND
Many anonymous elves band together each year to make Christmas special for struggling families of students in the North Hills School District.
The Elves Fund has donated approximately $100,000 to students’ families in the past 30 years. The fund is run and financed by staff members in the district.
“I just think every year it’s just heartwarming. It’s amazing how generous people are in our district,” said Daria White, a secretary for the high school guidance department and fund co-chair.
Ms. White said the program began small when members of the secretaries union would each bring a gift for a student to the union’s annual Christmas party. It grew from there, with all staff members taking part in donating money for the fund.
As an incentive, staff members who donate are allowed to wear jeans to class during the week after Thanksgiving, she added.
Donations also are received other ways. Students from the elementary band will be performing Saturday at The Block Northway and will be asking for donations for the Elves Fund.
Fourth-graders will perform at 10:30 a.m., with fifthgraders following at 11 a.m. and sixth-graders at 11:30.
“As a graduate, I know there are many special aspects of our North Hills School District. None I think is greater than its community. People here are truly brought together by a sense of family. It’s kind of a microcosm of Pittsburgh,” said Jeff Lucas, one of two elementary band directors. “Our North Hills Elementary Band Program is trying to reach out and perform in the community. The Block Northway offers a really nice venue for us to be able to do that.”
Ms. White said the Elves Fund used to purchase toys or coats for students, but in recent years has limited its purchases to gift cards from Giant Eagle and Target so it would not compete with specific building-level fundraisers.
“It got kind of difficult to do toys and physical gifts,” she said. “Thirty years ago, there weren’t gift cards.”
She added that the fund can get gift cards to families earlier in the season, so needed food, toys or household items can be purchased.
Her co-chair, guidance counselor Kathy Helfrich, said teachers and the two district social workers let them know which students’ families might need extra help.
“I think the need has been pretty steady,” she said, both with the Elves Fund and the Backpack Initiative. “Backpack numbers have been very steady for the last eight or 10 years. People can come on hardship at any time.”
The Backpack Initiative provides 180 to 200 backpacks to elementary school students and then fills the backpacks each week with food and other necessities.
“The thing about this program, as well as the Backpack Initiative: there’s no overhead cost. One hundred percent of the money we get goes straight to our students,” Ms. White said. “I think that’s something that our staff really likes as well. It’s really nice to be able to say that.”