Spirit of Christmas Touches Community
Shirts, shoes, and stuffed toy animals filled classrooms Tuesday as volunteers converted Fremont Elementary School into a veritable holiday gift factory for needy families.
With school out for the holidays, a network of Fremont employees and friends convened to prepare for the annual giveaway that will help 90 families with children enrolled at Fremont.
“I couldn’t enjoy Christmas without doing it,” said Susan Seager, a first- and second-grade bilingual teacher who launched the gift drive about 14 years ago.
About 95% of Fremont children qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, officials said.
When Seager first organized the gift drive, she would ask teachers to choose the most impoverished child in each class for donated gifts and Christmas trees. Over the years, the number of families served by the informal “Fremont Friends” group has grown from 15 to 90.
The volunteers received extra help this year from the Costa Mesa-based Share Our Selves outreach organization, which contributed 25 gift baskets for the families.
Santa Ana police also distributed about 200 baskets of food and toys to residents of Minnie Street and the surrounding area.
Police in the southwestern part of town were also expected to distribute gift baskets to residents. To donate to the Fremont program, call: (714) 548-0803.
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