The following is a note received from a school staff person after delivering a Cheer Crate to a student’s family:
Once again, thanks to the foundation for providing Cheer Crates to our families. It is so gratifying to see the smiles on the faces of our students and caregivers as we deliver some Christmas cheer. I know that you and your team are aware of the importance but I do want to share an experience I had. We have a family from Somalia who joined our school around 2 months ago. I went to their house to drop off a Cheer Crate and was asked to help carry it up the stairs since the caregivers had difficulty lifting the boxes. They didn’t speak English so there was some non-verbal communication happening. As I got to the top of the stairs I was immediately struck by the openness of the room. In fact, the only furniture was an old couch. That was it. No pillows, blankets, lamps, tv – nothing. It became very clear to me how important the gift of a cheer crate and a few gift cards would be to one of our school families. It also reminded me that we sometimes are unaware of the struggles that some of our families have as I would have never known if I hadn’t delivered the Cheer Crate. We are already planning to follow up with the SWIS worker to see how we can further support this family.