New campaign begins for Community Christmas Card

With winter approaching, Kathy Launder, nursing supervisor for Springdale schools, expects to begin receiving calls about children who need coats.

The need is evident each winter when children are spotted waiting for school buses on cold mornings without coats, hats and gloves, Launder said.

Thousands of children in Northwest Arkansas are from low-income families. Those families often get assistance for food, clothing and medical care from schools. The annual NWA Media Community Christmas Card campaign raises money to make sure the basic needs of children are met, said Rusty Turner, editor of the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Springdale School District spent $29,500 last school year from a social services fund to provide children with clothing, underwear, shoes, coats, food, school supplies, medical care and glasses, Launder said. She uses the social services fund to help children in situations when parents have lost their jobs, when their homes have burned and when immigrants are new to the city.

"They are so glad somebody is there for them to help get them through that rough spot," Launder said.

Donations for the district's social services fund come from the Community Christmas Card and other donors, she said. About 15,090 of the 21,250 children in kindergarten through 12th grade in Springdale this school year are from low-income families.

Community Christmas Card contributions come from a variety of sources, including elementary children bringing change for school collections and from individuals sending a single check, Turner said.

The public service role of newspapers not only means acting as a watchdog of government and keeping people informed, but identifying where a community needs help and working to address it, Turner said.

"This is one small way we're able to do that," Turner said.

Community Christmas Card campaigns have raised between $16,637 and $26,917 each year for the past seven years, with the 2014 campaign providing a total of $21,063 for 15 school districts in Northwest Arkansas and McDonald County, Mo.

Last year, the McDonald County School District received $102, while the Springdale School District received $9,791. Any donation may be designated for a specific school district.

Names of individuals giving at least $2 will appear in a full-page Christmas card on Dec. 25 in the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. People wanting their names in cards published in the weekly papers must submit donations by Dec. 17.

Just this month, a Bentonville teacher learned one student's family moved to a motel after being evicted from their home, said Julie Bachmayer, one of two social workers in the district. The student's father lost his job, and the mother was supporting the family. They had bags of pasta, but no way to cook it with just the microwave and small refrigerator in the motel.

One Bentonville High School student last school year was homeless and trying to maintain a job and continue going to school, Bachmayer said. She needed help paying for car insurance.

The 2014 Community Christmas Card campaign provided $2,798 for Bentonville School District's family service account, Bachmayer said. Bachmayer used money from the account to buy an electric burner to help the family cook meals and to pay for the student's car insurance for one month, she said.

"If that girl couldn't pay her car insurance, she may opt not to come to school," Bachmayer said. "We don't want that to be a barrier to her education."

This year, 4,100 of the 16,060 students in Bentonville School District are from low-income families. The account assists with what other community resources can't provide, Bachmayer said.

At Ledbetter Intermediate School in the Farmington School District, Counselor Rachel Fulcher appreciates efforts of churches, community organizations and individuals to provide shoes, coats and school supplies for children, she said.

Farmington School District, with more than 900 of its 2,366 students from low-income families, received $160 from last year's Community Christmas Card. The impact is immediate, Fulcher said. When the counselor told a parent recently of a child who didn't have shoes that fit, the parent supplied a pair of shoes and two jackets, Fulcher said.

"It lit up that student's world," Fulcher said. "It was very touching to see that. The child has worn the new items every day."

The Community Christmas Card provided $4,189 for Fayetteville School District's social work fund to take care of student needs, said Joy Shirley, the district's assistant director for special services. Social work donations primarily go toward food and clothing, but also for shampoo and deodorant, medication and laundry vouchers.

Shoes are an ongoing need because children typically will have one pair that wears out quickly, Shirley said.

"When we can meet their basic needs, then they can free their energy up to focus on their learning and not their survival," Shirley said.

In Rogers, which received $2,129 from the last year's Community Christmas Card, school social worker Kayse Krouse encounters families with needs on a daily basis at Lingle Middle School and three elementary schools where she's assigned. She recently worked with two families who moved to Northwest Arkansas with just the clothes they were wearing. She assisted a child with obtaining needed medication.

Krouse is able to supply children with clothing, food, coats and shoes with resources from other community organizations, but if money runs short, Krouse can turn to money from the Community Christmas Card. Across Rogers schools, about 9,200 of the 15,077 students in the school district are from low-income families.

"When basic needs aren't being met, they're not thriving in the educational setting," she said. "Once you get basic needs somewhat met, they don't have to worry about that, and they can focus on their school education."

NW News on 11/23/2015