Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
There’s still time to help kids
Christmas card campaign nearing end
Helping schools meet children’s needs is a tradition for many families in Northwest Arkansas who give annually to the Community Christmas Card campaign, sponsored by the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
All donations go to help students in schools in Benton and Washington counties in Arkansas and McDonald County, Mo. Donors can designate their gifts to specific school districts.
The campaign had raised $8,776 by Friday afternoon. Names of individuals donating at least $2 will be printed in a full-page Christmas card to be published in the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on Dec. 25.
The deadline is 5 p. m. Wednesday. Donations are tax-deductible.
Contributions come from a cross-section of the community, including parents, current and former educators and community members.
Nancy Mendenhall of Rogers started giving to the Community Christmas card years ago when she had two grandchildren attending Rogers schools. They have since graduated from Rogers High School.
The annual campaign is an easy way to help children, Mendenhall said. She is concerned when she reads about children lacking enough food, an issue that is a focus of Samaritan House project that provides low- income children with backpacks of food on weekends.
“I know there is so much need in this area,” Mendenhall said. “We need to start looking out for the people a little bit more. This is one way we can help.”
Since becoming superintendent of Bentonville School District five years ago, Michael Poore has been an annual donor to the Community Christmas Card. He learned about the community project when he saw it in the newspaper, he said.
“What this does it makes people feel like they’re doing something that has an impact,” Poore said. “Not enough people know how they can actually help somebody else. If you impact somebody else, that’s the spirit of Christmas.”
Many communities have programs like the Christmas Card, but the effort in Northwest Arkansas gives each school district the flexibility to decide how to best use the money for meeting needs of students, Poore said.
The money given to the Bentonville School District goes directly to the district’s two social workers to use for special circumstances, Poore said. Last year, one of the social workers came to Poore to ask for money to help a student buy gasoline for her vehicle.
The social worker told Poore the student was the primary caregiver for two siblings, was working and taking classes at Bentonville High School and Northwest Arkansas Community College, Poore said. Since the money from the Christmas Card is not restricted to coats, food or clothing, the social worker was able to give a few hundred dollars to help the student put gas in her car.
“This is a big impact on what could be multiple lives and helping kids be able to graduate,” Poore said. “It allows us to target down to a specific need.”
When students lack enough food or a comfortable place to sleep, they aren’t set up to go to school to learn, Poore said.
“It goes back toward kids and kids that need help the most,” Poore said.
Within the past week, calls came into the office of Beverly Charleton, who oversees social services for Springdale School District. A counselor at Parson Hills Elementary needed a pair of shoes for a student. A nurse at Sonora Middle School needed clothing, including jeans, for a couple of students.
Two families received clothing and school supplies after their houses burned within the past couple of months, Charleton said.
Principals, counselors, nurses and teachers know to call when they find out students have a need, Charleton said. The social services office includes a clothing room, a school supplies room and a food pantry stocked through school food drives.
Charleton gives annually to the Community Christmas Card because she sees daily how it helps students and makes them feel better.
“We’ve never turned anybody down,” she said. “We’ve been really lucky through this card and the generosity of people in Springdale to help us out.”
Diane Shaw of Springdale gives to the Community Christmas Card because she knows every penny will go to children. She was a counselor in Springdale for two years in the 1960s and was a counselor from 1978 to 1988. She worked at Jones and Smith elementary schools and the former Washington School.
Shaw also has encouraged organizations in which she is involved to donating to the Community Christmas Card, she said.
“I knew how it helped the kids in Springdale,” Shaw said. “It’s just a way of showing that you care for the people in the community.”
“Not enough people know how they can actually help somebody else. If you impact somebody else, that’s the spirit of Christmas.” — Michael Poore, Bentonville superintendent