Kids shop for their families at Holiday with Heroes event in Poway
Jose Martinez, 9, was quiet and looked deep in thought as he picked out presents for his family at the Holiday with Heroes event in Poway.
But once he reached the finish line where hot dogs and hot cocoa were being served he happily chatted about his favorite movies and family pets.
Martinez, a fourth-grader at Midland Elementary School, joined nearly 150 children in the third through fifth grades who partnered with a hero from the local fire department, Sheriff’s department and military so they could get gifts for their relatives. The Kiwanis Club of Poway organized the event held Dec. 7 at the Mickey Cafagna Community Center.
“These gifts will be useful,” Martinez said. “My favorite part is picking out the presents.”
Children were pre-selected to participate based on recommendations from the Poway Unified School District, said John Couvrette, immediate past president of the Poway Kiwanis.
“They’re identified as kids who have housing challenges and food insecurities and all of the things that go along with that,” Couvrette said before the event.
The youngsters eagerly waited their turn to enter the community center starting at 4 p.m. They were each given a large plastic bag to hold their goodies before posing for pictures with Santa and Mrs. Claus.
Jose was guided by his assigned hero, Anjolie Norton, 18, a Poway Ambassador at Poway High School. Their first stop was the toys and games section where Jose picked out a football for his brother, David, 14, and a soccer ball for his other brother, Eduardo, 17. His family are sports fans who watch games on TV, Jose said.
“What about your mom and dad?” Norton said as she led him to the tables stacked with gifts for parents.
Jose quickly spotted a 53-piece tool kit for his dad, Berna, but took his time browsing among women’s accessories before choosing a bottle of perfume for his mom, Marisol.
“My mom likes perfume,” he said.
The gifts were stashed in Jose’s bag and carried to the next area where he labeled the gift tags and Santa’s helpers wrapped the presents.
“Now you get to go have fun in the next room,” said Norton, who had secretly stepped inside a concealed tent to pick out a surprise present for Jose to open on Christmas.
The “fun room” had a cupcake station where Jose decorated a cupcake with green frosting, M&Ms and gummy bears.
“I like the red gummy bears,” he said, as he reached for a second cupcake to decorate.
From there, Jose and Norton made their way to tables filled with essentials, from blankets to flashlights and glow-in-the-dark hats. Jose picked out a blanket and flashlight before heading over to a giant Candy Land game. Every time a number was called, Jose stepped on bright colored squares on the floor to make his way through the game. The next stop was picking up Crayola markers, batteries and towels.
Jose and Norton spent more time at the craft table, where Jose picked out a dinosaur craft ornament to decorate with a green hat, scarf and presents.
“I like to learn about dinosaurs,” he said.
When the fun and games were over, Jose and his hero headed to the final station where volunteers served cocoa with mini marshmallows, juice, hot dog, chips and popcorn.
Jose said he’s excited about sharing his gifts at Christmas and he’s hoping to spend time during the holidays with his relatives from Mexico and nearby communities. His favorite Christmas song is “Jingle Bells” and his favorite holiday movie is “Polar Express,” he added.
“This is my second time at Holiday with Heroes,” said Jose, who attended last year’s event. “I like it better this time. Some of the stuff is newer and it’s easier to choose presents this year. Last year I didn’t know what to get for my family.”
While relaxing afterward, Norton said she is one of 20 seniors chosen at Poway High to be “ambassadors” who interact with kids at elementary schools and help out at community events such as the Poway Chamber of Commerce’s Fall Festival.
“Our teacher let us know about this event and I thought it would be a cool experience so I signed up,” said Norton, who plays on the Titans field hockey team and has signed to play the sport for the University of Michigan.
Other heroes at the event included Lake Poway Reserve Park Ranger Larry Randel who was there for his second year with his wife, Mona, a Poway Kiwanis member, and his daughter, Channing.
“It’s wonderful that the Kiwanis club does a lot of work to put this together,” said Randel, who was a hero to 8-year-old Gerardo Baranda Navarrete, a third-grader at Pomerado Elementary School. “My wife loves doing stuff like this. She loves to volunteer, probably more than I do.”
Rancho Bernardo resident Sotera Anderson, a colonel in the California Air National Guard, was a hero to Jazmin Vargas, 8, a second-grader at Midland Elementary School.
“It warms my heart to be with the kids,” Anderson said. “Jazmin said this was the best day ever. That’s what it’s all about.”
Penasquitos resident Jerry Miranda, a member of the Fleet Reserve Association military organization, was a hero to native Ukrainian Sviatoslav Maistriuk, a 9-year-old fourth-grader at Midland Elementary School.
Sviatoslav said he was glad to get presents for his whole family.
“I had a great time and I’d like to do it again next year,” Sviatoslav said.
Miranda said it took awhile for Sviatoslav to warm up to the event, possibly because it was a new experience for him.
“It was interesting to try to get him to talk about his family and how he’s associating here in the United States,” Miranda added. “It was good to see the smiles on the parents’ faces. You see not only the kids being happy but the family being happy, too.”
Also attending was Patti Ryder, who started Holiday with Heroes 16 years ago with her family. Ryder said it was originally patterned after former professional football player Junior Seau’s “Shop with the Jocks” event.
“We recruited the Kiwanis club and now just about every service organization is involved and businesses are involved, too,” she said.
Ryder said the event was formerly held at Walmart and Kohl’s using gift cards, with the biggest event involving 209 children. During COVID, the event continued in a drive-through format at Poway’s City Hall parking lot, she said.
“The kids are super excited and these are truly underserved kids,” Ryder said. “The concept here is the gift of giving. This is about buying presents for others. We want them to buy gifts for their family and it’s a great feeling when they open something of substance.”
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