POTTSTOWN >> Everyone who celebrates the holiday season knows that it’s a time for generosity and good cheer.
That can be difficult, however, when life throws unexpected hurdles your way.
Perhaps no one knows this better than Pottstown resident, Marta, who was faced with terrible news a few months ago when Hurricane Maria ripped through Puerto Rico, where many of her family members reside.
She received difficult updates from family members whose homes were destroyed in the storm and are suffering with ailments from water that isn’t clean. Marta did what she could to help from Pottstown, including sending care packages that sometimes took as long as a month to reach her family.
Recently, she took in her 11-year-old nephew, Alex, while his parents remained back in Puerto Rico to rebuild their lives in the aftermath of the hurricane.
“Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico and wiped out her sister’s house. It’s a small, humble house and it wiped it completely out. There was no electricity and it was pretty urgent for her nephew to get here,” explained a translator for Marta, who does not speak fluent English. “He (the nephew) suffers from a lot of different allergies and there were so many mosquitoes and he was getting eaten up pretty bad with the water and the heat. Her sister is still there but the main concern was to have him taken somewhere safe.”
Getting Alex here was only the first hurdle.
Alex is now enrolled in school but both Alex and Marta speak little English, a challenge made particularly difficult in a situation where there is no time line for Alex’s stay.
“It’s still really difficult there. There’s no easy way for people to even get the goods that everyone donates,” explained Marta. “People are still standing in really long lines and it’s sad because this wouldn’t happen anywhere else in the U.S. after a disaster. It’s just hard that the people are still going through this two months out.”
In addition to the probability that Alex won’t see his parents for Christmas, Marta says she is currently on disability and unable to work, making the upcoming holiday season a little bit more stressful with a child in the mix.
“It’s very difficult because he won’t see his parents. In Puerto Rico, we celebrate three kings. The three kings come and leave gifts like Santa Claus. He was just asking about that, whether the three kings will know that he’s here,” explained Marta. “For the most part though he’s happy, he loves school and he wants to finish out the year.”
Although this holiday season may be tougher than usual, Marta says she enjoys having her nephew in her home.
“He’s a typical child. He likes PlayStation and he really likes cars,” said Marta. “The best part of this whole thing is that we have life in the house.”
To help brighten Marta and Alex’s holiday, Operation Holiday is stepping in to lend a helping hand.
Kicking off its 27th year, Operation Holiday has been providing meals and gifts to local families since 1991. The idea behind Operation Holiday is to offer a helping hand to those families who, during the season of giving, are unable to afford what many of us consider holiday staples such as presents and bountiful holiday meals.
Operation Holiday has provided a brighter holiday season to thousands of families with children. Last year more than $50,000 in donations allowed the program to provide food and gifts for 144 families with 447 children in need.
The program was created and exists for children. The mission of Operation Holiday is to ensure that children of the Pottstown area have food to eat and gifts to open, no matter how poor or difficult their family situation may be.
There is no overhead with Operation Holiday and all funds stay in the Pottstown area. Families are referred by more than 20 local agencies and churches.
Funds are collected and audited in a non-profit foundation account managed by staff of The Mercury.
Food, which includes the fixings for a holiday dinner as well as staples for the pantry, is ordered, bought, packed and distributed by Mercury employees and Pottstown High School student government volunteers.
Gift cards for every child in the program 16 years of age or younger are purchased through Boscov’s and distributed in partnership with the referring agencies.
Operation Holiday does not accept families who have not been referred by an agency in order to protect the integrity of the program.
Operation Holiday is funded solely by readers’ contributions. All contributions are tax deductible.
Contributions may be mailed or brought to the offices of The Mercury, Attn: Operation Holiday, 24 N. Hanover St., Pottstown, PA 19464. Make checks payable to “Operation Holiday.”
Editor’s Note: The names of the people in this story have been changed to protect the identities of the families.
