“One of the marvelous things about community is that it enables us to welcome and help people in a way we couldn’t as individuals.” – Jean Vanier
They say Christmas is the time of the year when we all take a moment to reflect, give back and show the people around us how grateful we are for everything that has come into our lives. Through the Aspire GiveBack Project, our community has succeeded, once again, in making a change to the world by bringing happiness into the lives of 30 children.
Santa’s Case:
This Christmas, Santa spotted for the second time in a row the students (aged between 6 and 13) from the school in Dobrogostea Merisani, Arges county, Romania who have families with modest backgrounds. Many of these children missed school days in November and December, due to the simple fact that they did not possess footwear suited for low temperatures.
Additionally, the lack of basic stationery such as pens and notebooks constantly prevents them from having proper lectures. This necessity in the learning process has become a desire for them. Therefore, Santa made a thorough analysis and reached out to the students’ teacher, who was more than willing to offer any kind of useful information. He also knows that the Aspire community values education on all levels and they would do their best to lend a hand of help to these children.
Aspire Elves’ Actions:
After the in-depth case review, Santa asked the Aspire Elves for help, who were kind enough to offer some support, be it financial or material. With the collected money, the wonderful team of Aspire Elves volunteers were able to purchase winter boots for all children and school supplies. When the students returned to school after the winter break, they discovered that Santa hadn’t forgotten about them. He had simply left their gifts at school! They opened the bags and were eager to wear the boots, which they tried on immediately. When spoken to, the schoolteacher stated that “we helped them pass the winter”.
Santa’s regards:
Santa would like to thank the Aspire Elves volunteers, Andra Neagu, Georgia Canura and Luca Onica, who sacrificed part of their time to organise this event. Together they joined their forces and successfully brought warmth in the children’s hearts. Both Luca and Andra have been a part of Aspire GiveBack for the second year in a row. When asked about their thoughts, they both said that it was an experience, which shaped them and made them grow as persons. Although last year the gifts were toys, the children were very touched this year, when they opened the list and only saw ‘boots’ and ‘school supplies’ written on it.
Santa would also like to send a big “Thank You” to the Aspire Elves, who helped bring a smile on the children’s faces. Once again, the Aspire community demonstrated that together we can make the world we live in a better place.
“The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members.” – Coretta Scott King