The most heart-warming part of my Christmas season this year has
been the Migrant Family Toy Giveaway and Christmas Party.
The most heart-warming part of my Christmas season this year has been the Migrant Family Toy Giveaway and Christmas Party. The event, held last Thursday, benefitted 20 of the most economically challenged families in our community, many of whom live at the Rodriguez Migrant Camp on the edge of town.
I especially appreciate collaborative events like this which bring a diversity of people together in a new way. They always turn my personal biases or stereotypes upside down and help me to see life from a fresh point of view.
The event was sponsored by Univision Radio, the largest Hispanic radio company in the nation, which donated many toys to the event held in Wesley Hall on Church Street. DJ Piolin from Univision San Francisco hosted the party, played Christmas music, and broadcast the event live from a mobile radio unit. He coaxed some of the 50 children present to come up and give his microphone a try.
Chavez Supermarket provided tamales, Mexican sweet breads, and coffee. Bill Bartunek of Morgan Hill made a special trip to Gilroy to loan out his Santa suit. It’s the only chance most of these children have for a visit with Santa. Bill’s wife Tina, who works for CVS, filled 50 stockings with toys and candy tailored to each age group. Their son Andrew earned community service credit for high school by assisting Santa with handing out the red-and-green velvet stockings to each child.
Lea Ready, a junior at Christopher High, took photos of the kids with Santa for the families to have as keepsakes.
Retired IBM manager Howard Hall made use of his Spanish skills to connect with the children.
Retired Gilroy pastor Rev. Paul Sweet and his wife, Vicki, donated plates, cups, utensils and napkins needed for the homemade meal.
Julie Bradbury of the Magnolia Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star donated beautiful gold-and cream-colored scarves for the moms.
Marilyn Mitri of the Gilroy Lions Club donated toys for the children, as did Barbara Gailey, a Gilroy elementary school teacher for 41 years.
Sandra Aguilera and her granddaughter Angel volunteered in memory of Sandra’s late husband, Manny, who passed away last New Year’s Eve.
Pat Freitas, Vi Taylor, Claudia Salewske, and others made cookies.
Paula Pardue, a member of Rebekahs, the women’s branch of the International Order of Odd Fellows fraternal order, donated several big bags of toys, as well as 16 different pieces of jewelry, many that she crafted with her own hands. The Gilroy Odd Fellows donated generously towards gift cards.
Heather Brodersen, a Gavilan student and member of the Gilroy Assembly No. 125 of the International Order of the Rainbow for Girls, helped pass out gift cards to the parents to help with buying staples like rice and beans to get through the winter when there is little or no work in the fields.
A crew of six young Hispanic men volunteered to serve doing all the heavy lifting, toy set-up, and clean-up afterwards. These emancipated youths work here in our local fields; they are responsible, well-behaved young men who are working on getting an education but they receive no support from their families. Volunteering at this event is a way for them to prepare for life in this country and to learn how to better interact with a wide range of people in a collaborative way.
Have you ever seen 50 children (of all ages) together in one room with perfect manners all throughout a five-hour event? These children were attentive and well-behaved the entire time.
Every child went home with a toy of his or her own choice. Their eyes grew wide as each one filed through in an orderly manner to choose an item from the mountain of toys! For many of these children, this will be the only toy they receive this Christmas.
To see the smiles of the children as they shyly received their gifts touched my heart more than any of the Christmas tasks I’ve been rushing to accomplish.
In a model of how peace on earth should look, I find myself imagining Gilroy’s Toy Giveaway on an even grander scale: a world in which individual differences in belief, style, political views, socio-economic status, age and race no longer separate and divide us.
To witness the heavenly result of unselfish giving shining through on the faces of these humble, hard-working people who ask for so little and who take nothing for granted – well, let’s just say Christmas came early for me this year.
Kat Teraji’s column is published each Friday.
