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Date: 12/3/2020
WILBRAHAM/HAMPDEN – At the beginning of November, Shelley Mutti and Keri Lee, two women living in the Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District (HWRSD), began noticing posts in different area Facebook groups from people who were looking for organizations that could help out families in need this holiday season. While the two realized they probably wouldn’t be able to help many people on their own, they realized many people together could have a real impact and decided to match families in need with people who wanted to play “elf” during the giving season.
After creating the Elves of Wilbraham and Hampden Facebook page, Mutti and Lee sent out the call.
“Are you in need of help this holiday season? Are you someone looking for ways to help others? We’ve seen a rise locally of families that may need a little extra help this holiday season to bring that special smile to their kids on Christmas morning and we wanted to help,” the post read.
“We’ve had a huge response,” said Lee. “We’ve had about 35 elves who wanted to help and we’ve paired them with up to 17 children.”
The matching program is fairly straightforward. Members of the community who wish to help, contact the elves via email at elvesofwilbraham@gmail.com. Parents and caregivers with children in the HWRSD do the same and provide the genders of the children, their ages, clothing sizes and wishlists. The recipients are completely anonymous, Lee said, because asking for help can be a sensitive topic. She said that the two women do their best to match the families with those willing to donate gifts. The gifts are then dropped off to Mutti and Lee, who contact the families for pick up.
"The cost of helping is whatever they’re comfortable with,” Lee said. Mutti added, “Anything people can give, the families are grateful for.”
She noted that some of the older kids have a wishlist that includes more expensive items, such as AirPods Pro wireless earphones or an XBox gaming system. She said that multiple elves can give gift cards toward those items, rather than shoulder the entire cost.
Right now, Lee said, the organization has enough elves for the number of kids for whom they have received requests, but they are currently looking for elves to donate stocking stuffers.
“We both just want to say thank you for everyone who has stepped up to help,” Lee told Reminder Publishing. Mutti agreed, saying “We know how trying this time is with COVID and everything, and I can say I go to bed with a full heart.”