Andersen Elementary students get into spirit of giving
Three-year-old Korin Nestor picks up a unicorn stuffed animal twice her size as her brother Ignacio, left, and Ava Greer, right, watch after parents and students of Andersen Elementary School In Newport Beach delivered gifts to needy families around Orange County on Thursday.
Andersen Elementary School students and parents became Santa Clauses of sorts for 16 needy Santa Ana families Thursday and Friday evening, hand-delivering wrapped toys and gifts to place under their trees.
From kindergartners to sixth-graders, all 16 classes at Andersen “adopted” a family in need of gifts.
Personally bringing the presents to the Santa Ana homes was as important as collecting them.
“By delivering the gifts to their house, it shows the kids how other people live,” Andersen teacher Brenda Colgate said. “Then they go back to Newport Beach, which is maybe around 10 miles away, and they’ll see how they live very differently. It leaves a lasting impression.”
For five years, Andersen students and their parents have partaken in the adopt-a-family program with the Jessica Herron Inner City Partnership, a foundation created in honor of an Irvine woman who died in a 2005 car accident.
Herron, who died at 19, was a close family friend of Colgate’s. Their families attended the same temple and vacationed together.
“Jessica loved being a part of the adopt-a-family program in our temple during the holidays,” Colgate said. “Her foundation continues this program in memory of her.”
Through much research and an application process, the Herron foundation identifies families in need each year for the gift-giving event.
This year, the recipients were students from Franklin Elementary School in Santa Ana and their families. They are households in difficult circumstances. Some have illness in the family or parents who are unable to work.
Andersen parents Christina Hahne and Kara Greer packed their cars with presents — and, of course, their kids — to give gifts to Ana and Ignacio Nestor and their four children on Thursday.
When first walking into their small, one-story house, Hahne didn’t see any presents under the Nestors’ tree.
Greer’s daughter, Ava Greer, 4, handed off a pink unicorn stuffed animal to Ana Nestor’s daughter, Korin Nestor, 3. The toy was nearly twice the size of Korin, but she kept her arms wrapped around the giant unicorn until it got into the house.
All receiving families made lists of what they wanted for Christmas. The Andersen classes spent around two weeks gathering items.
“These families are asking for blankets, deodorant, toothpaste and a lot of basic necessities we don’t even think about not ever having,” Hahne said. “And these are the things they want for Christmas. That puts it into perspective.”
Hahne’s daughter, Brooke Hahne, an Andersen first-grader, and Greer’s son, Jake Greer, also an Andersen first-grader, went back and forth between their parents’ cars and the Nestor home, carrying boxes and gift bags over their shoulders.
Once their cars were emptied, the Nestor family tree was swimming in a sea of presents. Ana Nestor was in tears.
“Estoy muy contenta,” she said, expressing her contentment in Spanish.
When leaving the house, Brooke thought of one word to describe how the gift-giving made her feel: happy.
“Giving can truly fill your heart more than getting something, and I think this [program] is a perfect example of that,” Colgate said.
