Extra holiday cheer

It didn’t matter that it was cold and foggy, close to 200 Woodville families braved the weather Monday morning in order to receive several much-needed food items and treats for the family.

“Woodville Elementary has done this for many years but never to this level,” said superintendent Dago Garcia. “We do whatever we need to do to be a part of the community, helping our students first because that’s our commitment to our students.”

In addition to the planned food items that were to be distributed, Garcia said they received a last-minute surprise from Lotshaw Helping Hands — 10 pallets filled with numerous family items and gift boxes filled with toys and clothing items, as well as new shoes for all the children and one more special surprise for the children — Santa Claus.

Lotshaw Helping Hands — an organization that started helping children in 1994 in New Mexico and has expanded to helping students in five states — has treated Woodville children to back-to-school shopping for several years, providing them with $130 to $150 each in new clothing from JCPenney, a backpack filled with numerous school and personal items, snacks, and a chance to win refurbished bicycles.

This year, in order to bring a little extra holiday cheer to the families, the pallets of goods were donated at Christmas, said Inez Powell from Woodville School which works closely with Lotshaw.

Though the distribution was to begin at 10 a.m., by 7 a.m., several families huddled in the cold, hoping to get a jumpstart on the long line that was expected to form.

And long it was, the line of people — many of them carrying empty plastic bags, cardboard boxes, and laundry baskets and some with a child wrapped in a small blanket — curved around the parking lot area.

“It’s so cold,” said Juana Montoya as she stood toward the end of the line with three children, ages 10, and 7-year-old twins. “I didn’t think there would be so many people. This is great. Lots of children don’t get any gifts at all and it’s nice that this organization is doing this.”

Closer to the front of the line, Teresa Garcia said she and her three children arrived at 8:45 a.m.

After collecting a few basic food items, Garcia’s children were each offered an age-appropriate gift.

Also on hand to offer a gift was State Farm Agent Maria Garcia.

“This was my school,” Garcia said. “I went here from second grade to eighth grade. I had called the school to tell them I wanted to adopt a couple of families for Christmas but when I heard about this event, I knew I wanted to do more.”

Garcia met the children going through the line and offered each one either a Nerf football or a small stuffed teddy bear wearing a State Farm shirt.

On hand to help were several staff members, four teachers and Woodville Union Board Members Amanda Medina and Fabiola Guerrero.

Medina, who had all of her five children with her, including an infant, said the event is too important to not help.

“I think what we’re doing is awesome. I would like to be able to do this sort of thing more often,” she said.

It was a sentiment expressed by others working the lines.

Also at the distribution event were Charles and Linda Lotshaw.

“We’re here because we want to bless the families and children of Woodville,” Linda Lotshaw said. “But we also want to make sure that the right families are served. That’s why we work through the public schools. They know who needs what and when we help, we are assured it goes into the right hands.”

Contact Esther Avila at 784-5000, Ext. 1045, or eavila@portervillerecorder.com. Follow her on Twitter @Avila_recorder.