Program Seeks to Grant Christmas Wishes for Teens

ROGERS -- The Christmas wish lists at Teen Action and Support Center are pretty standard: a football, movies, bikes, a winter coat, art supplies and a fishing pole.

Also on the list are jeans, diapers, a gas card, tennis shoes, a toddler car seat, board games, Legos for the boys and facial care products for future cosmetology students.

The stories behind the wish lists are far from ordinary, said Heather Paul, executive director of Teen Action & Support Center.

Some applicants are teen moms referred from the center's program that teaches them parenting skills and educational goals. Other teens were referred by a school counselor. All are living in poverty.

"Just because they might be 17 or 18 doesn't mean they don't deserve a Christmas," said Emily Gilbertson, resource coordinator.

The Christmas Teen Initiative program will provide Christmas gifts to 130 teens from the Rogers and Bentonville area this year, Paul said.

This year there was an increase in the number of teens, and homeless teens, on the list.

"I refer teens every year," said Linda Haley, director of counseling for the Rogers School District.

The students she referred to the program are too old for some programs, or don't have parents who will fill out paperwork for others.

Some of the area's neediest teens experience the best Christmas outpouring through the program, Haley said.

It's the fourth year for the program, Paul said. Applications jumped this year from 100 to 130. She hopes to fill those wish lists by mid-December, but has sponsors for about half the teens on the list.

Hannah Carter said she's been part of groups that have sponsored teens for the past three or four years.

"These kids need it just as bad, if not worse, than the little ones," Carter said.

Last year Carter and her friends helped a group of brothers who were removed from their home and placed with an aunt just weeks before Christmas. They needed clothes, coats and shoes. The women in her group banded together, making calls on social media. Each boy got a coat, two outfits and they came up with a Wii.

One teen mom sighed in relief when told she would get a sponsor for Christmas, Gilbertson said. The college student had lost her job, then a battery went out on her car. Her preschooler is old enough to be excited about Christmas. As she filled out the application, Gilbertson asked her what she needed. She asked for a coat.

That young mother has had to fight to get to where she is, Paul said.

Some want warm socks, coats, blankets, and some have their sights set on a more traditional Christmas gift.

"I only want the Xbox 360. It's my all-time dream. Please," the application from a middle school student reads.

"It's not just about the Xbox," Paul said. "It's just kinda like being a normal teen."

Each teen writes a mini-essay as part of the application process. "What does Christmas look like to you?" the application asks.

"Mom is sometimes at work. I just sit around like any normal weekend. On occasion I get a gift, but it hasn't happened in several years, mostly because my mom doesn't have the money or doesn't have enough energy to go shopping," one application reads.

The same teen wrote that Christmas is a time to try to show love to family and friends.

Paul said she was touched by the application.

"It's so much more to him than just getting gifts at Christmas," she said

Denise Tremaine, senior replenishment manager at Dorel Industries, recruited co-workers to help sponsor teen Christmas wishes last year and this year. The team distributes a spreadsheet and people sign up for whatever they can afford.

"Everybody has been really willing to give," Tremaine said.

Teenage years are really hard, she said. This year one of the teens they got asked for coloring books and toys, and Tremaine suspects it's for a younger sibling.

"It's hard to wake up on Christmas with nothing," she said.