Help kids open those Christmas Bureau presents in cozy new pajamas with Catholic schools' donation drive

Roberta Simonson, The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.
·4 min read

Nov. 29—What's special about the Christmas Bureau is there is space for everyone to help. Volunteers of all ages and backgrounds keep the bureau running each year like clockwork, and countless community members chip in what they can by making donations to The Spokesman-Review Christmas Fund.

Each winter, students at local Catholic schools have made sure to do their part by collecting and donating hundreds of pairs of pajamas to the bureau.

The pajama drives started several years ago with St. Mary Catholic School.

"We were looking for a project to do at Christmas," said Kevin Schultz, a teacher involved in running the drive at St. Mary. "We thought, 'What can we do?' "

After the school decided to do a pajama drive, it was a matter of finding an organization to distribute them. They chose the Christmas Bureau.

For the past few years, St. Mary has been partnering with one of their sister schools, St. John Vianney Catholic School.

This year, St. Thomas More Catholic School has joined the Christmas sharing .

"We wanted to help out the Christmas Bureau and Catholic Charities and kids in need during the holiday season," said Brian Hull, a teacher at St. Thomas More who has been running the drive with "all 23" of the school's eighth-graders.

St. Thomas More, a 200-student school, has collected about 500 pairs of pajamas . John Vianney's goal is to collect 650 pairs. St. Mary is almost halfway to its goal of 500 pairs. The total number of pajamas at the bureau will be further boosted by donations from Providence Health Care, which also runs an annual pajama drive for the bureau.

Hull said the biggest impact for his students has been knowing that their small contribution will help a child in need.

"You have to just see the looks on their faces when they see the donations," Hull said of his students.

"Do you think this is gonna be enough?" his students have asked him.

In a typical year, the schools and Providence collect a few thousand pairs of pajamas. Last year, the Christmas Bureau served over 20,000 clients, and this year it expects even more.

"We are always super grateful to the Catholic schools and Catholic Charities and Providence for collecting them for us," Christmas Bureau Coordinator Heidi Meany said.

Still, each year the sleepwear flies off the shelves.

Schultz said inflation is making St. Mary's pajama collecting efforts a little slower this year.

"Its gonna be a tough road this year; prices have gone up and tuition has gone up," he said. "We're doing about as well as we can."

But Schultz is confident they will reach their goal.

"I'm always surprised at the generosity of our community," he said.

The Catholic schools are accepting donations of new pajamas from the public. Their drives are open until they drop their pajamas off at the bureau Monday.

The bureau usually receives plenty of cozy clothes for infants, but pajamas for older children are especially needed, Meany said.

Donations

Thanks to more generous donations from the community, The Spokesman-Review Christmas Fund sits at $98,561.76, almost one-sixth of the way to its goal of $600,000.

The E.S. Bergquist Foundation made a donation of $5,000. "Thank you for all your efforts in serving the needs of our community at this difficult time," President Ken Roberts wrote.

John and Kristi Blake made a donation of $5,000.

Kenneth Roberts and Jean O'Dell donated $2,000.

Christopher Goddard sent $1,050. Douglas Dominey sent $500.

Kelley Opperud donated $300. Stephen Koehler sent $250.

Valerie Adams and Heidi and Harold Clarke each donated $200. Chris Bovey donated $110.

Gary and Glenda Miller sent $100, writing, "Hope you have a Merry Christmas."

Bruce Larsen, John Didier, Loren Hendrickson, Wendy Knight and Kara Mackenzie each sent $100 via PayPal.

Darcy Hardin-Reichert donated $100, writing, "Merry Christmas!"

"In memory of Tana Van Assen," Gary Van Assen sent $75.

James Sayles donated $75. Bonnie J. Fox donated $60.

Marcia Downing, Janet Glenn, Patricia Leader, Lynda Martin and Bethany Kerr each sent $50 via PayPal.

Through PayPal, Susan Borg sent $50 in memory of her mom and dad, and Pete and Ruth Clarke, "who always made the holidays beautiful."

Roberta Simonson's reporting is part of the Teen Journalism Institute, funded by Bank of America with support from the Innovia Foundation.