Rehoboth
student Amele Ippel stacks the wrapped gifts for the Navajo Child Program that
she and her school helped put together Thursday in the Fellowship Hall at
Rehoboth. Classes spent the day wrapping presents for those less fortunate. By: Tom Hartsock — Gallup Herald
Category: News
December 11, 2006
Rehoboth
student Amele Ippel stacks the wrapped gifts for the Navajo Child Program that
she and her school helped put together Thursday in the Fellowship Hall at
Rehoboth. Classes spent the day wrapping presents for those less fortunate.
Photo: Tom Hartsock/The Gallup Herald
Girls
at one table and boys at another and the gifts were wrapped quickly for the
Navajo Child Project last Thursday.
Photo: Tom Hartsock/The Gallup Herald
Kathy
Spitz brought the unwrapped gifts from Thoreau so the Rehoboth students could
lean more about giving.
Photo: Tom Hartsock/The Gallup Herald
REHOBOTH—The energetic lady with the huge heart walked briskly across the large space of the Fellowship Hall to greet the media who had come to write and take pictures about her project. There was just one of us from the fourth estate on that day, Thursday, but that small number would never dampen the enthusiasm of Kathy Spitz, who retired in 2001 as the Director of Special Education for the Eastern Navajo Agency for 10 years, after starting as an educator and serving in the trenches for 15 years.
“This was started in Crownpoint when I was working in special education,” Kathy said after the greetings were out of the way. “That was 13 years ago, 1993, and we only had about 25 kids. This year we will give to 560-something kids and 250 families. These are the kids that Santa never sees."
The Navajo Child Drive (navajochild.org is the website, detailing information, history, donation submissions, and pictures) provides presents for these special needs children, and their families, through donations that come in from170 sponsors across the country, mostly private.
“We shop after the season is over,” Spitz explains. “All of these gifts were bought after January so we could take advantage of the lower prices. We stockpile the items, mostly through the help of the Latter Day Saints and Church of Christ in Thoreau. They give us the space to keep the items.
"Every cent we receive goes to the families except for the wrapping paper and computer ink.
“Our individual sponsors are what carries us, some for as little as $10. WalMart, Big Lots, the South West Indian Foundation, and National Relief Charities of Phoenix help us too. Toys for Tots is also working with us this year.
“It costs about $150 for a family of four, including the traditional meal we provide. Every child gets a toy worth at least $15, and the family receives a fleece blanket too.
“Schools like Rehoboth, this is their first year, provide a place to wrap the presents and students to do the work. We also did some wrapping at Thoreau High and Mid Schools this year. The kids really get into it and it is good they learn early that giving is more rewarding than receiving all the time.
“Care Coordinators from the Eastern Navajo Agency do the majority of the deliveries, covering the 10,000 square mile area as volunteers. The area includes all of McKinley County, Tohajilee, Alamo Navajo, Ramah, and Pine Hill. It’s a huge job but these coordinators know almost all of the families we serve.
“Big Lots is having a battery drive so those toys that need them will run. They also donated 175 gallons of fruit juice last year for the food baskets.”
The presents were stacking up nicely along the backs of the chairs on the southern end of the large hall, and against the wall as well. Students of varying ages were moving quickly to the task, helping each other in the best spirit of Christmas. As new classes rotated into the building, the previous class filed out the doors and back to school.
Asked what she would like for Christmas for her group, Spitz responded quickly with, “a donated building, preferably in Thoreau; nothing fancy, that we could use for storage.”
Not an overly huge request, at least for those who have a little more than average, but a beneficial one that could be used for years to come by a group of individuals trying to fill at least some of the void that the holiday season brings.
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