Evergreen Elementary Families Get Holiday Cheer

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Eric Turner and Eric Lee of Absher Construction, the contractor building the new Evergreen Elementary School, donated 50 holiday dinners to Evergreen families Dec. 16.

The trio of Communities in Schools of Peninsula, Food Backpacks 4 Kids and Stephanie Brooks of Gnosh food truck gave 60 dinners to local KP families, a repeat performance of their collective Thanksgiving dinner. Thanks to earlier donations for Christmas, the holiday dinner came complete with a blanket and socks.

Tricia Endsley, CISP site coordinator at Evergreen, said “This year has blown me away. Strangers are emailing me, ‘We got your name off Facebook. Do you have a family we could adopt?’ The amount of giving from so many different people is astounding.” 

Harbor Covenant Church gave CISP $10,000 worth of grocery gift cards of $100 each, many of which ended up at Evergreen, she said.

Bette McCord, Evergreen office manager, said “We’ve spent the last weeks matching sponsors with families. We’ve never had anything this big before.”

“There are just so many people involved,” she said. “There are many people who have never asked and you can hear them stumbling. ‘If you don’t have enough, it’s okay,’ they’ll say. ‘If there’s someone else who needs it more, please give it to them. I just lost my job.’ 

“And then somebody like Lulu Smith walks in the door unexpectedly with $500,” she said. “Or it’s Jan Pritchard from the Longbranch Foundation with 50 $20 dollar gift cards.”

Endsley said, “We tell everyone who asks, don’t worry, we’ll find a way.”


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