Tuesday, November 24, 2015

2015 Christmas Drive...There's Still Time To Help!

As we go about our lives this week getting ready for Thursday where most of us, if we're lucky, will be seated around a table filled with our families and friends and an abundance of food and many, many reasons to give thanks...


I'd like to share with you a few reasons I will be feeling thankful:


1) I'm healthy. I'm able to live, breathe, move, dance, love, and be the mom I want to be. There's nothing extreme that my body is either doing or not doing that stops me from doing any of that. Health is an incredible gift, one that we don't fully appreciate until we don't have it and all my thoughts and love go out to all of those who are struggling now.


2) I have a family I adore, a beautiful house, a job I love, two amazing girls who are the light of my life, a husband who never stops working to take care of all of us, friends who would move mountains for me, and I live in a relatively safe part of the city where I don't have to fear for my or my families' safety. Not everyone can say they are so blessed, and it hits me every day, not just on Thanksgiving.


3) I have the means to provide for my children. They certainly don't have everything they've ever wanted (NO Maelin, you can NOT have a phone yet!), but they have boots when it snows. They have a coat they can button up against the wind. They have gloves they can put on to keep their fingers from turning red. They have a warm bed at night and they have never once gone to bed hungry.


4) I am thankful for all of you for constantly answering the call for help for my Christmas Drive. I always hope that THIS will be the year that the need won't be as great, that all the kids will have a coat. That all the kids will have shoes and socks. That all the kids won't steal crayons to take home because they don't have any. That all the kids at least get something for Christmas. So far...that hasn't happened, in fact, it seems to be getting worse. But what I am thankful for...is that YOU are all stepping up. From you forwarding my request for help to everyone you know, to meeting me on your days off to deliver trunk loads of coats and supplies, to putting donations into my PayPal account so I can get these kids warm clothes, to offering to wrap items, to gathering pajamas, to buying hundreds of used books from the library, and to just talking about what we're doing in our little school in Commerce City with your friends so we don't feel so isolated and alone...you do so much, even if you don't feel you do. Everyone always tells me how amazing this Drive is every year because of the results, but the truth is...YOU are the reason it is so amazing year after year after year. YOU do the work, YOU send the funds, YOU talk to your jobs and get funds matched, YOU go shopping for me to save me some work, YOU host book parties so you can use the money to buy my kids books, YOU buy car loads of groceries for families who are homeless...the list is endless.


That is what I am thankful for and what I will be talking about on Thursday as those of us who are lucky enough to do it will be eating our holiday dinner. I am beyond thankful for all of you and everything you provide for hundreds...HUNDREDS of children and their families. You put the holiday spirit in all of our hearts and I couldn't be more grateful.


Thank you


*There's still plenty of time to get a Target card dropped in the mail, or a donation sent to my school, or put in my paypal account. You can send anything to:

Alsup Elementary School
c/o Mara Redenbarger
7101 Birch St
Commerce City, CO  80022


Please take a look at the video from two years ago as a quick reminder of what we all can do when we band together.  You all are amazing.

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

2015 Christmas Drive has begun! "Dear Santa...my family needs a home."

Hello all my friends and family,


Please take a minute to read a few unedited excerpts from the letters my students wrote yesterday:

“Dear Santa, My sister needs boots because I can wear her boots but she has no bigger boots to wear."

“Dear Santa, I really need undeware.  I don't have but one pare."

“Dear Santa, I could use a backpak to carry my homework.  Ms. Red can't get me one yet so can you please?"

“Dear Santa, I want boots and a warm warm cote for when it is so cold outside."

“Dear Santa, I need a soft blanket because my old sooft blanket is small for my bed and my houze gets cold at nite."


“Dear Santa, I need just one glove because I have one but I losted the other one so if you could just please bring one glove I would thank you very much."


“Dear Santa, My family lives in the bottom of the chruch becuase we do not have a home.  I would like a home please if that can fit in your slay?"


“Dear Santa, I need more food I eat all of the food every day at school but we do not have very much at home, just food from cans, can you please bring hot food?"

I could continue, but I’m pretty sure you get the gist…



I work in a very impoverished school district. At last count, my school is over 95% free and reduced lunch, and our annual residential turnover (how quickly kids come and go) is 36%. (which means kids are constantly moving, staying with relatives, switching schools, etc…)



My second grade class are a lively bunch of 8 year olds who have a wide range of talents and challenges between them.  We have 12 boys and 11 girls who to put it bluntly, need the bare necessities for Christmas and the winter season that is coming.  One of my kiddos lives with a foster family because her parents disappeared last year and she hasn't seen or heard from them since. Another family has been living in their church basement since last year with no end in sight.   Most of my kids are constantly asking for “more breakfast please” and they tend to save some of the snacks we get to take home to their siblings. Whenever we serve fruit for snacks, they always grab some to take home to be sure they have a snack later. The school provides free breakfast and lunch that we serve every day and for some of my students this is the only time they even get to eat. One little girl has extreme ADHD and starting this week, her family told us they can't afford her medication.  Every single kiddo this year asked for a new toothbrush and toothpaste and the vast majority of my kids don't have enough books, pencils, paper or even crayons at home to do their homework. Whenever I pass out extra pencils or crayons to take home, they all fight over them. Only a few of them have boots, only a couple of them are expecting anything at all in terms of "fun gifts" for Christmas.  We are gearing up to try to provide Christmas trees and even just a turkey dinner for at least 15 families and we can't do any of this without your help.



 It's not that all of the parents are deadbeats or don't care: I've met all my parents and most of them are devoted to their kids and passionate that their kids MAKE IT: they want their kids to rise above their situation and become better than they themselves have it.


This is my 10th year helping to provide a little bit of holiday cheer for my class, the 2nd grade, and with your help, the entire school and it is the absolute highlight of my year.  Words can’t describe the joy I feel when 2 years later, I see younger brothers and sisters running around the playground wearing a coat you donated 4 years ago.  Or when a parent comes in to thank me and give me a hug in broken Spanish to tell me that without the boots you sent, their child would have to walk to the bus stop every day with holes in their shoes.  Or the happiness that we see when a child holds on to the one Christmas present you sent because she wants to take it home and open it there as she knows it will be the only one she receives this year.  Or the feeling that someone cares about them when I’m able to give a family a gift card that you sent to buy a turkey for their Christmas dinner. Or watching a child walk down the hall with new jeans, or a new sweater and not having to keep their hands in their pants to hold them up because the only pair they have is too big and they don’t have a belt. Or the pride in the 8 year old’s eyes when he zips up his new coat to go outside to play soccer with his friends for the first time. Or watching children squeal and run around on the playground all bundled up with new hats and gloves and with the spring in their step that you put there for possibly the first time.  Or a grandmother of 4 girls that I had continually over the years coming back to give me a hug and tell me that without our help, her grandchildren that she’s struggling to provide for would not have had a Christmas for years.  Or the carloads of food you sent to my family who had just moved from the homeless shelter into their own apartment and just didn't have anything.  Or the outpouring of gifts, money, food, clothes, and love from all over the world you gave to my student and his family who was suffering from a brain tumor and had to ride around in a stroller at 9 years old because his single mom couldn’t afford a wheelchair. Or the brand new glasses you were able to send to not only a student who needed them who couldn't afford them...but enough for her mother to get a pair as well. 



 I could keep going, but I want to make sure that you know that you have made all of that and so much more possible over the years, and again, I’m asking for your help.
This year, I’m hoping to again provide at least one present for the entire second grade of 98 children.  Instead of asking for any and all donations, I instead am asking for two small things that will make their holiday just a little bit brighter and will remind them that despite the circumstances they were born into, there are people out there that care about them and want them to succeed.  I would love to be able to get two things for all the second graders in my school: a new pair of pajamas, and a new book at their reading level.  This may sound small to you, but please believe me that even a new pair of pj’s and a book from a stranger will be just the boost kiddos need to remind them there’s a big world out there with people who care about them.  I will also be making sure every child in my room has decent shoes, coats, socks, and clothes to get them through the winter which can be bitter and even one pair of new socks can make a huge difference.  



One of my favorite moments from each Christmas Drive is always when, after I've gone shopping at Goodwill or Target, I invite the kids who are truly needy into my room to go "shopping" from all the pants, coats, sweatshirts, sweaters, jeans, socks and you can't imagine how excited they are when they each get to choose their own clothes from the massive stack that you provide.

As always, we are in desperate need of socks, underwear, coats, hats, gloves, and gently used clothing for most kids in the entire school in every range of sizes and styles.  Many children have siblings that are also in desperate need of help, and anything you send will find its way to good use.  If you’d like to contribute anything at all, please send Target Gift Cards or checks to be used for clothes at Goodwill in any amount to:

Mara Redenbarger
c/o Alsup Elementary School
7101 Birch Street
Commerce City, CO  80022


I will make sure every child receives a gift for Christmas and the children and families who are desperate get their needs met.  I will need all donations at my school by Friday, December 11, 2015 so I have time to get everything wrapped and distributed by the holiday break.  As I know most of you reading this have forwarded, collected, donated, helped with organization, created videos, visited, and had their companies match their donations over the years, I’d like to end this letter with a link to watch what YOU were able to help me accomplish last year.  I thank you in advance for the love and generosity and spirit you show to these kiddos.  Please believe me, it lives in all of our hearts for years.


Mrs. Mara Redenbarger


Please click HERE  to watch the 3 minute video of what we have done together.  I promise you, it’s worth your time.