Santa’s Friends bring Christmas to 85 second graders

The university’s Santa’s Friends program, organized through the Center for Outreach & Mission Service, connected 85 university students with each of the second graders from four classrooms to fulfill the youngsters’ Christmas gift wishes and spend one-on-one time with them.

Several elementary students in Kristin Calidonna’s classroom described their reaction to their presents and what they liked most about their holiday party.

When Roxanna Cervantes opened her Christmas gift and found a ‘Little Live Turtle’ toy inside, “I was shocked,” said the 8-year-old second grader. The toy walks and swims, she said. 

“I liked that I had a friend who was older than me and it felt like I had a sister again,” said Ely Anah, age 8. She and her La Sierra University friend created candy canes out of beads during craft-making activities. “I made her one, and she made me one,” Ely said.

George Lopez, age 7, said he received a mini drone which he enjoys flying at the park and in his front yard. He especially likes to make the toy do flips and spins in the air. But when asked which part of the holiday party he liked best, the soft-spoken youngster replied, “When I talked to Carrie. We both liked the same things – science, dinosaurs, and history.” 

Matthew Claros, who received Pokémon cards and a Squirtle doll, said his favorite part of the event was “that we performed for them.”

The Collett students thanked their older counterparts in several ways. Calidonna’s class wrote Christmas notes to the university students and performed the Christmas novelty song, “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas.”

“The Santa’s Friends program was an amazing opportunity for our students at Collett,” Calidonna said. “We are a low-come school with about 80% of our kids receiving free lunch. This year we’ve had a large influx of students that are homeless or displaced, and several families that have been dealing with severe hardships.

La Sierra students came and bestowed their undivided attention on an individual child for an hour and a half, which is something that is very rare in many of our students’ homes. And of course, the fact that our students receive a gift from their new friends is very exciting. In some cases, it’s one of the only things they may receive during the holidays,” she said.

For the La Sierra students, giving gifts to the youngsters and spending time with them individually brought home the true meaning of the season.

“It gave me a sense of what Christmas is really about,” said Lysa Hinojosa, student chaplain for outreach at La Sierra. “It was not so much the toy that was given or received, rather the love that was shared on that day. Everyone walked out feeling happy and blessed, and that was the point of it all.”

La Sierra’s Santa’s Friends program was started five years ago by then-freshman student and co-student director for outreach, Jordan Harris. Elementary students’ gift requests have run the gamut of toys and games over the years, but some whose families are struggling have asked for more basic necessities.

“The schools we've chosen for Santa's Friends are ones we know serve a student population from a lower economic status then most,” said missions outreach Assistant Chaplain Linda Biswas. “Some kiddos in their letters have asked not for toys, but socks or jackets. And we get these items and give them to the teacher or parent on the side and surprise them with a gift as well.”

“Our goal as La Sierra Outreach was to connect with our community in a tangible way [through] energetic collegiate students who spread the message of the Christmas season,” Biswas said. “And our own students resonated with it. Many of them have shared that they have come from this background, poor or struggling parents, unsure of what they'd do for the holidays. If we can make a tangible difference, why wouldn't we?”