Megan Navarro
DRIPPING SPRINGS — With the help of several members in the community, one Dripping Springs woman has been ensuring that families have the Christmas morning they deserve.
In late 2021, after Gina Christopher and her family moved to Dripping Springs, she stumbled upon a lower-income neighborhood and she couldn’t shake the feeling that there are some kids who do not get to enjoy the spirit of Christmas. It was then that she got the word out that she was doing something about it, reaching out through Facebook and word-of-mouth, to see if there were any families in need. It was initially her neighbors in Bunker Ranch who would sponsor those families, but has since grown from there.
The effort, titled Dripping Springs Cares, works as Christopher begins getting the word out in early November to see if anyone is in need of help for Christmas. While the kids do not have to attend school within Dripping Springs ISD to receive assistance, they do need to live in the community — whether that’s homeschool, preschool, etc. — and be 18 years old or younger.
Once Christopher has a volunteer to sponsor the family, they receive the kids’ wish list and they can start purchasing the gifts.
“The average is probably around $150 per kid, just on average, but some people spend less. People spend more. Some people can't afford that, so they just want to buy a couple of gifts and go in together. Sometimes, it'll be three sponsors who go in for one family or other people want to sponsor the whole family and they'll sponsor every kid,” she said.
The sponsors then wrap, label the gifts — with girl or boy and age — and meet up with the parent or guardian at their home or a public place, wherever they are comfortable, Christopher explained. If the family does not want the gifts to be wrapped beforehand, they work that out with the sponsor.
Dripping Springs Cares does not stop at just the gifts that are received, Christopher explained, as they have also helped the mothers and fathers who have dealt with other hardships and needed that extra support.
“I've had moms tell me they can barely pay their bills and, ‘We can't afford to do Christmas this year,’ or we once had a dad say that his wife was going to rehab and he didn't have a Christmas tree or anything for Christmas,” Christopher said. “It was a few days before Christmas, so we got them a tree and ornaments and all their gifts. They were kind of displaced without the mom … He just needed the help and so, we were able to do that for him.”
Christopher said that Dripping Springs Cares is important because the community is a diverse group of people, ranging from low-income to high-income households, living in the same town, so those with extra funds are more than happy to help those who don’t have enough.
“A lot of kids end up having a magical Christmas because of it … It's fun to see all the kids get sponsored and match people up and we usually end up having more sponsors than kids by the end of the season,” she said. “We've never had to not let a kid get sponsored.”
Gifts are delivered anytime before Christmas and donated gifts are accepted until Wednesday, Dec. 24, so families and volunteer sponsors are still able to sign up. To learn more, visit the Facebook page at bit.ly/48LUYzx.
