What would you get with a free shopping spree? These families in need got the chance to find out

The holidays aren't so full of merriment and cheer for everyone.

Families struggling to make ends meet often face months of payments and ongoing debt if they try to purchase gifts on credit, assuming they can qualify for credit. Others simply do without.

But 20 needy Phoenix-area households got the opportunity to put aside their money woes for a bit with a free $1,000 shopping spree and the chance to stock up on everything from toilet paper to cleaning supplies, with a few toys for the kids.

Ashley Suttle teared up after maneuvering two shopping carts through the cashier stand at a Target store in Tempe with her husband, LeKenroy Massey, and their two kids, Marceline and Kalcifer, ages 5 and 4. The family from the White Mountain Apache tribal area marked the special event by all dressing up in matching pajamas as they spent more than an hour loading up on $1,000 worth of items.

They have been struggling to make ends meet on pay from his job as a mechanic alone. They went for toys, blackout shades, a microwave oven, a dollhouse, toothbrushes, cleaning supplies, cooking pots, pillows and more.

Rakiya Doukoum instead focused her $1,000 spending credit on just four big-ticket items: a children's bicycle, a tricycle, a digital camera and a Meta Quest 2 virtual reality headset system. "With this, they'll have fun and make some memories with the camera," said Doukoum, an immigrant from the central African nation of Chad.

She works in food service but said she has trouble paying the bills for herself and her two young boys, ages 2 and 4. "Everything is expensive, and the pay is not good," Doukoum said.

Some families left behind

All 20 of the families who received the shopping gift live below the poverty line, which varies by household size but approximates $27,800 for a household of four. Many of the people who seek help are single parents, mainly women. Some are victims of abuse or neglect. Many of the parents are employed, though not in high-paying positions.

The $1,000 in holiday shopping opportunities that each family received were donated by commercial real estate investor Michael Pollack and arranged through Child Crisis Arizona, a Mesa-based nonprofit group.

Pollack said he's trying to raise awareness of the thousands of households, especially those with children, who are hard-pressed to afford necessities, let alone toys and other relative luxuries. It's a message that can be difficult to remember given the strong economic growth and expanding job prospects in recent years around the Phoenix area.

"Though we've seen a pretty good economy, it hasn't been that way for everyone," Pollack said. "Some of these children can't go to school because they don't have shoes or clean clothes, or there are two kids sharing the same outfit."

Pollack said he hoped to set an example for other benefactors who might be willing to adopt a needy family or help in other ways, such as by donating their time to nonprofit groups.

Nationally, about one in six children lives in poverty and the proportion is slightly higher, nearly one in five, in Arizona. Financial woes could intensify next year if the economy slides into a recession and layoffs mount, especially if interest rates and inflation stay elevated.

Various other signs of stress

Families with children also can be thrown into crisis mode if a working parent dies, becomes disabled or leaves.

"Sometimes, you'll see an entire family sharing a room," said Torrie Taj, CEO of Child Crisis Arizona.

Her nonprofit helps families when they face a crisis such as a job loss or a parent leaving by providing emergency shelter, food and other assistance. The group also seeks to help families learn to deal with and prevent problems long term by teaching financial-planning basics and providing parental instruction on a range of topics. The group also provides various types of counseling, refugee resettlement and more.

Andrea Reyna Sanchez said she and her two children, ages 7 and 1, were left alone when her husband "picked up and moved out."

Reyna Sanchez moved back in with her parents, who already were providing foster care for five children. She said she has been looking for work but hasn't landed a job yet. That's partly because she's trying to find scheduling that would allow her to care for her kids. Also, she said, most employers want workers with prior experience, which she lacks.

"I've been out of the workforce so long," Reyna Sanchez said.

Aurora Tate said she left a domestic-violence situation with her six kids, two of whom have disabilities. The Mesa woman works part time at home as a medical assistant but said the pay "isn't nearly enough to cover the bills."

She focused her purchases on diapers, cleaning supplies and other household necessities.

The shopping spree "will allow us to get the things to survive the next two months," Tate said. "I came with a list."

Reach the writer at russ.wiles@arizonarepublic.com.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Child Crisis Arizona gives Phoenix area families $1,000 shopping spree