Holiday help impacts lives for years to come
Volunteers help assemble items in this undated picture. Programs like Sub for Santa and Giving Tree are designed to help families experiencing temporary challenges.
Bill Hulterstrom
35 years ago, when I was a student in college, I was working on a Christmas assistance program similar to our current Sub for Santa program. One of the families that we helped was a single mom with a couple of young children. Just last week, I ran into one of the daughters from that family. She is now a successful small business owner, and whenever we see each other she mentions how much that help meant to her family when she was young. But she wasn’t the only one whose life was changed for the better that day; I still remember that experience like it was yesterday. Both of our lives were forever impacted by that Christmas.
My experience that Christmas wasn’t unique. Each year, I meet new families and volunteers through United Way of Utah County’s Sub for Santa and the Giving Tree programs whose lives are forever changed by those interactions. Both of these programs are designed so that those receiving help can have a personal experience with someone who cares. That’s why these programs can have such an impact on everyone involved.
For example, one year a mother and her daughter received assistance from our Christmas programs. 15 years later, they both started volunteering with Giving Tree because they wanted to help other people in turn. Now, the daughter and her daughter volunteer at Christmastime. One act of kindness has led to generations of giving back.
That generosity is something I love about our community. Each year, I get phone calls during the last few days before Christmas asking if anyone’s been forgotten or if anyone still needs help. Fortunately, thanks to generous community members, we’ve always been able to make sure that the families and individuals in the Sub for Santa and Giving Tree programs have gotten the help they need.
By partnering with other organizations, companies, and community members, we can make sure that no one is forgotten. As we bring all of our resources together, we can ensure that we don’t duplicate efforts to help. We can provide information so families are aware of the resources available to them all year long. We can help families not only have a better Christmas day, but a better life.
Over the past 35 years as United Way has administered Christmas assistance programs, we’ve learned that if we do it right, we can help families find self-sufficiency for the long term — not just for the holiday season. We’ve learned that, thanks to our generous community, we don’t have a shortage of toys for our kids. We’ve learned that gifts like books can impact the lives of children for years.
That’s why it’s so inspiring to me to see groups like Beehive Startups and companies like MX, who have used the holiday season to promote literacy by donating books to local families and raising funds for literacy programs. They are making sure that their impact of their holiday service goes far beyond Christmas Day.
This emphasis on long-term stability is a trademark of both the Sub for Santa and Giving Tree programs. They are designed to help families experiencing temporary challenges. Most of the families that we help stay in the program for less than two years, which tells us that we are helping the people with the greatest short-term needs. Providing Christmas assistance for families gives them peace of mind and helps them direct limited resources to other pressing needs. By doing so, we help them recover self-sufficiency and enable them to plan for the future.
Each year, we hope to be able to help more and more families — and we need your help to do so. There are many ways to get involved, whether that be by volunteering at one of our applicant workshops, signing up to sponsor a family, sorting or delivering gifts, donating to support the program, or helping a neighbor apply for help.
By supporting our community through Sub for Santa and the Giving Tree, you will impact lives for years to come. I’m reminded of a local teacher who told me that one of the students in her class received some new clothes from a Sub for Santa sponsor. His new clothes gave him added confidence at school. New school clothes may not seem like much, but that increased confidence allowed this student to do better at school. And since doing well in school has implications for later success, that donor’s simple gift had a real, lasting impact on the recipient.
This year, add a new tradition to your family’s holidays. Join us and help our community have a happier holiday season. For more information, please visit subforsanta.org. If you would like to sponsor a family, please call (801) 356-6300. And if you or someone you know would like to apply for Christmas assistance this year, please call (801) 356-6200.