Time Remains To Make Christmas Card Gift

Some students need a little help overcoming adversity in their personal lives in order to succeed in school.

Take the case of an 18-year-old Bentonville High School senior. Facing an unstable situation at home, the young woman had to go live with a friend in Bella Vista. She needed help paying for gasoline to get herself to school every day, according to Julie Bachmayer, a social worker for the Bentonville School District.

Earlier this fall, Bachmayer provided her some gas money from donations the district receives. Those donations include money received through NWA Media's annual Community Christmas Card campaign.

"This is an incredible student. It's a girl who's going to get scholarships," Bachmayer said. "If we didn't have the donations, I'd have to ask the community for help. It's a need, but I can't send her to an agency to apply for some money for gas."

The young woman, who works 30 hours per week, is now receiving her gas money from area churches for the remainder of the school year, Bachmayer said.

The Christmas Card campaign is about helping students like that homeless 18-year-old. School districts also use Christmas Card money to buy clothes, shoes, glasses, medicine, food and just about any essential item students need to focus better on their education.

"What's great about this program, and the reason we're so proud of it and dedicated to it, is every dime folks contribute goes back to the schools to be distributed to kids in need," said Rusty Turner, editor and publisher of NWA Media. "That's a great way to get in the holiday spirit and do something nice for folks who could use a little extra help."

Donors had contributed $16,606 to this year's campaign as of Friday. Last year's Christmas Card campaign raised about $18,000.

"It seems like we're having a pretty decent year. We are grateful for any contributions our readers make," Turner said.

There is still time to contribute. Individuals may deliver tax-deductible donations to any NWA Media office, including daily and weekly publications, until 5 p.m. Monday. Names of those donating $2 or more will appear in a full-page Christmas card published Thursday in the daily papers and this week in the weekly papers. Donations received since last Thursday will appear in the daily newspapers only.

All donations go to schools in Benton, Madison and Washington counties in Arkansas and in McDonald County, Mo. Any donation may be designated for a specific school district.

The Fayetteville School District last week gave away hundreds of holiday baskets to families in need. Families get food and a bag of household items such as soap, shampoo and toilet paper, according to Ananda Rosa, Fayetteville's social work coordinator.

A food drive provides about 75 percent of the contents of those baskets. The district uses money from its Safety Net fund, a collection of Christmas Card money and other donations, to pay for the rest of the food, Rosa said.

"We probably spent about $3,000 on food. And then on the other stuff, probably another $5,000," she said. "The hope is (the baskets) will tide families over through the holidays."

Officials from the Rogers and Springdale school districts said donations are crucial to meeting the needs of students. More than 60 percent of students in both districts are eligible for free or reduced-price meals, an indicator of the poverty those districts face.

"When people are going through hard times, you want to minimize the disruption as best as you can, especially for the children," said Patsy Roycroft, lead social worker for Rogers schools.

Christmas Card donations are collected by NWA Media and turned over to the United Way of Northwest Arkansas, making all donations tax deductible. NWA Media covers the administrative costs of handling the donations, so 100 percent of donations go to the school districts.

The money is typically distributed to school districts in the spring.