Kitty Hull didn’t have a lot growing up.
“When I was younger, we didn’t have a lot of money. There were six kids in my family and that’s a lot to clothe and feed. We also moved a lot due to poverty. Many of my students have the same type of background.”
That’s why Hull, a Buffalo schools teacher, was inspired to make sure her students had a nice Christmas every year. With the help of family & friends, she began collecting gifts for the entire third grade.
“I wanted to lighten the load for families and give my students useful gifts to help them succeed. This year I centered it around literacy because the pandemic has hit many of these students hard.”
Blankets, books, toys and stockings were collected and the smiles on the children’s faces after receiving their gifts were priceless. However Hull couldn’t stop there when a little boy pulled her heartstrings.
“Our school had an agency that was helping with toys for families. I had a boy bring his application on Tuesday. The deadline was Friday before. I sent it to the office anyways. The child asked me on Thursday if I’ve heard anything. Mom texted me and asked, too, and sadly, I had to tell them both that the application was late and they couldn’t accommodate late applications. He bowed his head and returned to his seat.”
Hull could not get that sadness out of her mind so again she went on a mission to help this boy and his family.
“The thought of him not having anything to open on Christmas just didn’t sit well with me. He still believes in Santa.”
With the help of the community, Hull has been collecting gifts for the child’s entire family so they can have a nice Christmas. We wonder if having a heart of pure gold is part of her job description?
Then there’s Michelle Dachs, a special education teacher in North Tonawanda. She has 10 students in her class and also went on a mission to help get them gifts this Christmas.
“Most of my students come from low income households and I don’t believe will get many gifts for Christmas,” she said. “I tried helping but was only able to get them each two small gifts.”
That’s where Be A Blessing Buffalo and Sweet Buffalo decided to team up and make sure that all of her students had more than enough gifts to make them smile. Dachs was so appreciative but we are appreciative of her for caring so much to reach out on behalf of the children.
“My students will be amazed to see what ‘Santa’ brought them. I’m even going to type up notes and say that Santa stopped by our classroom,” she said.
Bless these amazing teachers for all that they do to make the world a better place for their students. We know there’s many more out there just like them, too.
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