Saturday, December 3, 2005

St. Nicholas Project

Making sure Santa visits county's children is their goal

Jackie Schlotfeldt News-Bulletin Staff Writer; jschlotfeldt@news-bulletin.com

The holiday season is in full swing with people busy making lists, shopping and planning how they will spend their Christmas. But not everyone is as fortunate as others and many organizations reach out to help those who are in need.

One organization that touches children's and parents' lives is the St. Nicholas Project. The project is in its sixth year and will be helping families celebrate the holidays again this year.

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Judy Andrews, Kathy Esquibel and Corinne Padilla are project coordinators for group. They started the program six years ago in the hope of helping disadvantaged families. What inspired them to set up a project closer to home was their involvement with the Christmas Store in Albuquerque.

"Deacon John Leheigh of St. Paul's Parish had a lot of love for the poor," Esquibel said. "When he passed away, we thought it would be the best tribute to him to start a program in our area."

Esquibel said that what makes the project different from other organizations is that parents get to go to the store and buy clothes, shoes and a toy for each of their children.

"The child never sees charity," Esquibel said. "The children see their mom bringing them a present instead of someone else. It's all about maintaining their dignity."

So how exactly does the project work?

The State Human Services Department, St. Vincent de Paul, Our Lady of Belen, Veguita Trading Post and Head Start provide names of families in need. The families are screened by the agencies and are allowed to participate in the project only once.

Each family is sent an invitation to shop at Wal-Mart. The invitation is for $25 in clothes per child and $15 for toys. In addition to the clothes and toys, a $15 certificate for shoes from Payless will be given. The parents will have the month of December to use the Payless certificate.

This year, a brand new book for each child will also be included, Andrews said. Andrews wrote to five publishers and three responded by sending boxes and boxes of new books with subjects that would appeal to all age groups ranging from infants to teenagers.

This is the first year that St. Nicolas Project included toy shopping at Wal-Mart. In previous years, parents would buy the clothes from Wal-Mart but the toys were picked out at the Christmas Store. This year, both the clothes and toys will be purchased from Wal-Mart, and a bookshelf will be set up for the parents to pick out a new book for each child. The parents will also be able to have all their presents gift wrapped.

In addition to shopping, the families will also receive food for the holidays. The food is provided by John XXIII Catholic Community in Albuquerque and is a community project it does each year. The food is sorted by family size and delivered to Belen.

"The first year, we set of goal of serving 100 children," Esquibel said. "We met that goal, but every year the numbers go up."

The St. Nicholas Project will reach 122 families this year with a total of 326 children on the list.

"We don't do it alone," Esquibel said. "We have a lot of support and we have great husbands."

Andrews said they start to organize the project in August and they sometimes worry that they won't have enough money for the growing number of families in need.

"If we are short on money and need $6,000 we suddenly have $12,000," Andrews said. "It just comes in, it's so neat."

Donations from the community keep the project going. Esquibel said and what is so unique about St. Nicholas Project is that 100 percent of all donations go to the project.

"We don't get paid," Esquibel said. "If we need something that isn't donated, then it comes out of our pockets. Wal-Mart has been a big contributor to the project and this year Kinko's donated two banners for our float in the parade. IBC also donated 1,000 printed envelopes for us to distribute to the community for donations."

The best part of this project is the day the families come to shop for their children Andrew said.

"We give the kids stuff they've never had before," Andrews said.

One family hugged and thanked Andrews for this opportunity because if it hadn't been for the St. Nicholas Project, her children wouldn't have had a Christmas.

Andrews said there are a lot of volunteers who make the project work, and when the day comes for families to start shopping, there are plenty of people to help them if they need it.

"It's a project you can feel good about," Andrews said.

The St. Nicholas Project serves disadvantaged families from Los Chavez to La Joya. The children range in age from in the womb to 18 years old. Over the last five years, nearly1,000 children have been helped by St. Nicholas Project.

For more information, contact Judy Andrews at 864-7906, Kathy Esquibel at 864-0745 or Corinne Padilla at 864-4556. Money donations can be made at Wells Fargo bank to the St. Nicholas Project.

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