One thing that makes the holiday season so special is the sense of togetherness and of giving back that permeates throughout lit up towns and cities, and triggers individuals to want to make a positive impact on the community around them. Valparaiso’s Julia Rohde is doing just that this year, making a difference.
“As the holidays are upon us, there are plenty of organizations that work to make sure every child in the community receives a gift,” Rohde said. “As a person who absolutely loves children, it broke my heart to imagine any child without a gift during this time of year. Though tangible gifts are obviously not the most important thing about the holiday season, as a child, gifts are definitively an aspect that many look forward to. Parents also want the opportunity to make their children happy and may not be able to afford giving them any gifts this year.”
With this in mind, Rohde set out for Central Elementary, which she had attended growing up, to see if there were children there that were in need of gifts.
“At Central, there were a few students who had not been fully covered by the gift program the school social worker had been orchestrating,” said Rohde. “For example, there were siblings that had recently moved here and had to leave everything behind because they flew here. The social worker said that clothing would be extremely beneficial to that family. After leaving Central, I visited a few more elementary schools, and then emailed the rest. It became apparent to me that it wasn't necessarily "gifts" that the students needed, but more necessities.”
Rohde began compiling a list of the items she found to be most needed and would be looking to collect. Then she reached out to family, friends, co-workers and classmates looking for people to help collect these items and get the word out about her mission.
“My hope is that as a community, we can all contribute in small ways to do something big,” said Rohde. “Though a bottle of shampoo may seem insignificant to us, for the families of these students, it really can make a difference. Hopefully between me frantically texting, posting, and talking to everyone I know a good number of people will step up and help out.”
The items Rohde will be looking to collect and distribute to all Valparaiso elementary schools are:
boys winter clothing (pants/long sleeves) - size 5-6, size 7-8 boys snow boots - size 4 girls clothing - size 8, size 14 shampoo conditioner body wash male lunch box headphones/earbuds (to be used for a student’s class) books board games winter boots - any size or gender legos snow pants - large gift cards for grocery stores gas cards
“Unfortunately, there will always be a child in need of items such as shampoo, therefore the more we collect the better,” Rohde said. “I know that any donation will go to great use and make a child’s holiday a little bit brighter.”
The idea is that these items are a gift for the family so all the items have to be collected by Monday, December 14th or Tuesday, December 15th so that schools are able to distribute all the items before winter break.
Those looking to donate can take any of the above listed items to Shoe's Pizzeria, 3300 Calumet Ave Valparaiso, IN 46383