18-year-old Dariana had helped decorate her classroom door the whole morning, and when she stood in front of the painting of the Grinch stealing Christmas, she had a permanent smile stretched across her face.
At her school, Avalon Continuation High School in Wilmington, the Grinch hadn’t come. Instead, seven volunteers from King’s Harbor Church came to deliver Christmas trees to students’ families in need.
Dariana stands in front of her class' entry in Avalon's Christmas door competition.
“It means a lot because a lot of people right now can’t buy a tree,” Dariana said.
At Avalon, the site of ShareFest’s year-round Youth Development Academy, 80 percent of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches because of their families’ financial situation. Aware of this, the state of the economy and the holidays quickly approaching, Principal Regina Awtry knew she had students at her school whose families couldn’t afford a tree. When ShareFest approached her with the idea of donating trees, she jumped at it.
“The intrinsic value, I can’t even express,” Awtry, said. “When our kids are the recipients of people’s kindness and generosity, then it is my hope and it is my expectation for our kids that some day they will be in the position that they’ll be able to do the same for someone else. We plant the seeds in the kids that communities help each other out.”
On Dec. 11, Awtry’s voice flooded through the loudspeaker, filling the two-building campus before the scheduled lunch-time and announcing the arrival of their guests. Avalon’s 120 students hurried out of class when they heard ShareFest volunteers had brought donuts for each of them and Christmas trees for those who needed them.
Volunteers cut and load the trees on their way to Avalon.
In the spirit of ShareFest, the volunteers delivering the trees weren’t willing to drop their gifts and leave. They wanted a chance to interact with the students.
“The trees were just an in-road to get to communicate to these kids and encourage them, hope to inspire them and ultimately bless them,” Todd Pearson from King’s Harbor said.
It was a gesture of generosity the future leaders at Avalon are already learning to imitate with a canned food drive ending Wednesday. They are already becoming leaders in a community of care and passing on what they can to those in need.
“It’s the Christmas spirit, and it’s lovely,” Ana, an 11th grade student, said.
Click here to see more photos.
ShareFest Blog 