By Jim Beers, Contributing Writer
CHESTER — The 2021 Chester School District No. 139 Christmas Gift Program made Christmas a lot better for 103 children in Chester. The effort has been ongoing for at least two decades in one form or another and has continued to grow the past decade.
Cindy Ponder, School Social Worker from the Perandoe Special Education District, helps to coordinate the annual effort along with School Nurse, Jurina Reese.
Ponder said, “This program is really a team effort with numerous people and organizations contributing to its success. Jurina and I just serve as coordinators of all of the many efforts of those numerous entities.”
The program actually started back in the early 2000’s with Melanie Winters, School Nurse at that time, coordinating a similar program with the help of the District Wellness Coordinator.
Amy Eggemeyer, a more recent School Nurse with District # 139, expanded the program and increased community involvement and fundraising. Upon her departure from the District, Nurse Nikki Maue assumed responsibility for the project and Ponder assisted her. When Maue left the District two years ago, Ponder and Reese continued the effort.
The program starts with teachers recommending the names of students at both the grade school and high school who might not have a good Christmas due to a number of possible reasons. Those recommendations are reviewed by a Christmas Committee who in turn decide what students are chosen to be the recipients of gifts at Christmas time. That committee is made up of teachers and staff from both the grade school and high school.
Once those students are selected, they provide a “wish list” of items that they might want for Christmas. Lists are then summarized per recipient and shopping lists are created and categorized by age and gender. Only the coordinators know the logging system that coincides with the actual names of the student-recipients.
There are several organizations, individuals, clubs and other entities who opt to shop for recipients themselves. They fund, shop, wrap, and deliver the gifts to the school where they are sorted, labeled, and made ready for parent pick-up on the assigned date and times.
Those providers include We Care of Jacob, Memorial Hospital of Chester, St. John Lutheran Church Angel tree in Chester, Love Abby, State Farm Insurance, and Ebenezer Church in Rockwood.
Chester High School Football players, Shane Bickett, Branden Whitley, Koby Jany, Trent Eggemeyer, Matt James, Garrett Hopkins, Trace Fricke, Will Schuwerk, and Gavin Cowan load gifts on the truck at the 2021 Chester School District # 139 Christmas Gift Program. The team shopped for and purchased 80 gifts Saturday December 11 at Walmart which helped to serve 103 children for this Christmas of 2021. The truck was provided by the Memorial Hospital in Chester and driven by CHS Assistant Football Coach, Trevor Kelkhoff and delivered to program headquarters at the Chester Grade School. Jim Beers Photo
In recent years, the Chester Yellow Jacket Football Team has become involved in the program and provides key assistance to program coordinators and staff.
CHS Head Football Coach, Billy Belton said, “We started helping with the program when Bryan Lee was Head Coach at CHS. Lee always contacted Knight Hawk Coal and wrote the grant to Wal-Mart for funding and the players did the shopping for the kids selected for the program.”
“When Coach Lee left Chester High School, Jeremy Blechle took over for two years, and when I took the helm of the Yellow Jackets from Coach Blechle, I accepted the responsibility for writing the Wal-Mart grant and contacting Knight Hawk Coal for the funding.”
Chester High School Football player Kolton Jany checks out the shopping cart of toys he purchased for the 2021 District No. 139 Christmas Gift Program Saturday December 11 at Chester Wal-Mart. Jim Beers Photo
“I also get the football players to come to Wal-Mart on the assigned date and they take the kid’s wish lists and actually do the shopping for the kids.”
Coach Trevor Kelkhoff takes care of transporting the gifts from Wal-Mart to the Chester Grade School. We are always thankful to the Memorial Hospital of Chester for allowing us to use their box truck to haul the gifts.”
Chester District # 139 School Nurse, Jurina Reese and School Social Worker, Cindy Ponder (left), assist Chester Wal-Mart staff check out 80 gifts Saturday December 11. The gifts were purchased by 40 members of the CHS Yellow Jacket Football Team for the 2021 District # 139 Christmas Gift Program. This year the effort served 103 children that attend school in the Chester School District. Jim Beers Photo
“Those gifts are then sorted at Chester Grade School and prepared for pickup by the parents. Nurse Reese and Mrs. Ponder are wonderful in handling the gifts one they arrive at CGS!”
Chester Wal-Mart staff assist the CHS Yellow Jacket Football Team check out 80 gifts purchased for the 2021 District # 139 Christmas Gift Program. (Left to right) are: Jimmy Hunt, On-Line Grocery Department; Stacy McCormick, Front End Team Leader; Angela Kirchhofer, General Manager of Consumables; and Shelby Helmers, Hardline Team Leader. Walmart was a major sponsor of the gift-buying spree and supplied funding for the event via a Walmart Grant. Jim Beers Photo
This year there were a total of 103 children served by the program. Coach Belton had 40 players from the 2021 Yellow Jacket team shop for 80 of the children purchasing toys at Wal-Mart and the other six outside sponsors handled funding, purchasing, wrapping and delivering clothes and toys to the other 23 children.
Coach Belton said, “We are very grateful to Knight Hawk Coal, Wal-Mart, and the other sponsors for their funding and other assistance with the program. It is a great event and our players enjoy giving back to the community that supports them throughout each football season!”