Community Christmas Giving Donors,

Yet again, another year has come and gone faster than ever. Here we are with Thanksgiving upon us, and the holiday season of giving quickly to follow. I would like to thank you so much for contributing to the Christmas Giving donation drive in the past. Your generosity and kindness are the reason the season is brighter for hundreds of students at Mueller Charter School in Chula Vista and other San Diego area students. Once again, I am asking for donations to help give Christmas gifts and more to young students and their families this holiday season.

In order to support the growing need for Christmas Giving, Amanda Werth has volunteered to join me in organizing the effort this year. She arranged a clothing drive to benefit Mueller Charter School last fall and has established relationships with the counselors at the school. Amanda is excited to help with the Christmas Giving drive, so you will see her involved in our communication.

The list of generous donors has grown over the years, so we are using a new email platform to better reach every donor on the list. Also, for the first time, we are utilizing Instagram to reach a wider range of givers. Please follow our account @Giving_San_Diego and share our information and progress with your followers. We are hopeful that we will be able to reach our goal $25,000 to directly benefit families in need around San Diego this holiday season and continue our effort of Christmas Giving!

The counselors at Mueller Charter School have initially chosen 10 families with students at the school that desperately need our help (see information below). The more we raise the more families we will be able to include in our giving drive. Following the same process as the last 2 years, the counselors helped the parents and caregivers to create an Amazon wish list for each child. Not only do the families enjoy picking out the items for their children, but they feel more involved in giving them Christmas. With your generosity we hope to be able to purchase every item on each child’s wish list while also giving each family funds to help with bills, food, new clothes/shoes and any other basic necessities.

The following families have been chosen to benefit from our Christmas Giving:

FAMILY 1 – Family of 13 kids in all. Mom and dad are separated. The oldest sister has four kids of her own and is responsible for much of the day-to-day lives of the other children. Overall, the family struggles.

FAMILY 2 – Student lives with mom in a shelter. They rely on public transportation to get to school and work because their car was recently towed. They are having trouble getting it back because it is too expensive to get back.

FAMILY 3 – When these students were given PE shorts by the school, they shared that they did not have proper clothes/shoes for PE because of financial instability in the family.

FAMILY 4 – Student often mentions that they can’t complete or concentrate on their homework because they live in their car.

FAMILY 5 – Dad is disabled with a low income. Their rent is not paid, and their bills are overdue.

FAMILY 6 – Mom is in and out of the lives of four children. The siblings currently live in a one bedroom apartment with six other family members. A total of 10 people living together and struggle financially. The students often wear the same clothes/shoes.

FAMILY 7 – The family travels between U.S and Tijuana daily. The student’s baby sister is often very sick, so in and out of the hospital. Mom spends most of her time taking care of her. They stay with other family or friends or previously have lived in one bedroom hotel.

FAMILY 8 – This year the family lost their housing and had to move to El Cajon. Everything is so expensive that makes it difficult for the family to be financially stable. Also, mom’s partner can’t work due to mobility issues.

FAMILY 9 – Single income makes it difficult to pay for bills, food, and clothes for kids in this family of five.

FAMILY 10 – Mom is financially responsible for her three kids under the age of 7, her two sisters and her two parents (family of eight). Family has trouble with stable home/living situations.

Using Amazon to purchase and ship gifts to the families has double the benefit. With your donations we purchase the gifts for the kids AND with those purchases we earn Amazon points. With those points we are able to fulfill classroom wish lists for six very deserving teachers at Village Elementary in Coronado.

Last year we had some technical complications with emails not reaching every donor, so we fell short of our goal. But, anything we can give, no matter how much, will bring joy to some San Diego families at Christmas. With our updated email platform and our new Instagram account we are hoping to raise $25,000 and give to those 10 families or more!

With your help, we have given a lot over the last 6 years:

2016 – $8,995

2017 – $12,858

2018 – $17,585

2019 – $25,570

2020 – $45,080

2021 – $26,450 for students/families & $2,600 worth of classroom supplies for teachers at Village Elementary

Our goal this year is to have 150 donors to help collectively raise $25,000!

If you are interested please donate by Saturday, December 10, 2022.

You can donate in the following ways:

• Donate via Venmo by searching @Amanda-Werth-1 on the Venmo App
• Cash/Check: Make Payable to Amanda Russell and mail or drop off to 731 G Ave,  Coronado, CA 92118

Any donation is helpful. Feel free to share this information with anyone that you think would be interested in joining us.

Amanda McPhail and Amanda Werth