SALT LAKE CITY — If you're looking to make a big impact on a child's life this holiday season, a special project needs your help.
"Gifts for Guadalupe" ensures that every single one of the roughly 400 students at Salt Lake City's Guadalupe school receives at least one gift and a book for Christmas Day.
The project is a massive undertaking, considering many children and their families are experiencing poverty.
Roughly 75 percent of students at the school are first-generation and children of immigrants.
“These are hard-working families, often working multiple jobs to make ends meet," explained Becky Youkstetter, Development Director at the school. "But they’re having a hard time even providing food, oftentimes.”
When it's already tight to make ends meet, Christmas gifts can be a burden that families can't bear.
That's when the idea sparked for a program to provide just a little holiday magic.
“We knew that we wanted to make sure that every, single one of our students received at least one gift and one book under the tree," Youkstetter explained.
The community pitched in to make the vision possible and this year the program is already ramping up ahead of the holidays.
“You can be a Santa to kids," Youkstetter said. "You select the student you want to sponsor, you get to pick the grade, the age level, the student has picked a toy that they would like and they usually range between 25 and 50 bucks, that’s it.”
Gifts are gathered and given to parents, who get to put them under the tree for their kids to open on Christmas morning.
“If you really want to make an impact and really help transform a holiday season for a child, it’s such an easy thing to do," Youkstetter said. "You can buy something on Amazon, have it shipped to us and will make sure it gets in the right hands.”
Unwrapped gifts need to be brought to the school by December 8, where they'll then be distributed to parents and given to the children.
To learn more and participate in the program, click here.
