Fresno families received early holiday cheer thanks to Making Spirits Bright event
.JPG "Staff from the Fresno Economic Opportunities Commission Sanctuary and Support Services delivered holiday cheer at the doorstep of Monica Equihua’s home, one of the 25 low-income families selected from Columbia Elementary just west of downtown Fresno for this year’s Making Spirits Bright operation on Saturday morning.")
Sofía Ojeda couldn’t contain her emotions as staff from the Fresno Economic Opportunities Commission Sanctuary and Support Services delivered holiday cheer at her doorstep Saturday morning.
“I feel so happy,” said Ojeda in Spanish as tears of happiness rolled down on her cheeks.
Ojeda’s family was one of the 25 low-income families selected from Columbia Elementary just west of downtown Fresno for this year’s Making Spirits Bright operation.
“Today is our 28th annual Making Spirits Bright event and this year we selected Columbia Elementary out of Fresno and we’re helping 25 families, which totals actually 96 children in the households,” said Misty Gattie-Blanco, Fresno EOC Sanctuary director. “So, we’re really excited.”
Ojeda’s family, like the other chosen families, received a Christmas tree with ornaments and lights, a box of food, a load of Christmas gifts and stockings, and gifts for the families.
“The truth is that we have never put out a Christmas tree,” said the 36-year-old mother of four children – ages ranging from 1 to 14..
Ojeda’s 5- and 9-year-olds attend Columbia Elementary.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Making Spirits Bright event evolved in 2020 into a caravan with Sanctuary staff dropping off items to each of the families’ homes.
“You know, even though COVID happened and we couldn’t do our onsite event, we have made it work, right,” said Gattie-Blanco. “We have our caravan with our Santa leading the way and the reindeer following behind them.”
This year caravan included approximately 15 staff and volunteers helping bright the holidays for families in need.
Mónica Equihua felt a little overwhelmed, but “in a good way” for getting items that would make her family’s Christmas a little better.
“It just helps a lot,” said Equihua, a mother of two. “I know they’ll be very excited because they get to decorate the tree and it’s just amazing that people like you guys do this stuff.”
For Kayla Vásquez and her family, the visit from Fresno EOC on Saturday morning was a blessing.
“It’s a blessing, like it, was up very unexpected, so we are very thankful for it,” said Vásquez, whose child is a sixth-grade student at Columbia. “We didn’t have a Christmas tree so when they called us, I was like thank you so much. It helps a lot.”
Reina García didn’t expect her family would be selected.
“It was a lot of joy,” said García, a mother of five of getting help during the holidays. “I am a single mom, and I am very happy. It will benefit me a lot because I am not working right now.”
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Columbia Elementary home school liaison Marisela Bautista said its very rewarding helping out those families and getting them “a little bit of joy.”
“It’s very beneficial, you know, because we service a lot of kids and so this helps out a lot of families because a lot of families work in the fields. So, around this time their work is less. So, they go through like a rough time during this time of year,” Bautista said.
Like the other families, María Padilla felt very happy her family got selected.
“I feel very happy. Happy, because I did not have these things and now, I am going to have this Christmas,” said Padilla in Spanish.
Padilla, 49, and a mother of five, said she got the call from the school letting her know her family was chosen for Making Spirits Bright.
