Holiday House brings toys and joy to many homes

It wasn’t the sudden lack of warm coats, clothes, backpacks or school supplies for her kids that really saddened Hahna Luna.

It was Santa Claus.

“We went from having a lot of stuff to no stuff,” the mother of four said. “What do you say when your little boy asks, ‘Why didn’t Santa bring me anything?’”

South Whidbey residents decided years ago it’s a question no parent should have to hear.

Enter Holiday House, a place where parents and caretakers of South Whidbey School District students pick out brand new toys, games and electronics that have been purchased through community donations and Toys for Tots.

For the past several weeks in a classroom at the former Langley Middle School, a toy explosion covered tables, desks, shelves and filled bins and boxes. Two dozen new bicycles lined the walls, along with helmets and locks. From drones to dolls, Play-Dough to pajamas, tiny cars to top-of-the-line trendy electronic toys, thousands of dollars worth of toys, books, games and gifts were given out.

Making sure St. Nick is an equal opportunity gift giver is one of the goals of Readiness to Learn Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping families with basic needs so children can concentrate on learning.

“Holiday House started in 2003 and has been successfully assisting families with gifts since then, thanks to the generosity of the community, including Toys for Tots,” Executive Director Gail LaVassar said.

About 30 percent of students at South Whidbey Elementary School are eligible for free and reduced lunch, data commonly used as an indication of area poverty.

On Tuesday, Holiday House closed for the season after weeks of buzzing activity. In all, 150 families with 307 children received 2,745 toys and other gifts. Parents selected three toys, plus five stocking stuffers and a game and a book for each child. A higher-priced electronic or other more expensive item could be selected as one of three choices per child.

Months of planning went into making Holiday House a success.

For example, some school kids were asked awhile back what toys they wanted for Christmas to give a sense of what’s hot this year, said Shawn Nowlin, community outreach coordinator.

Marine Corps veteran Frank Thorton then received marching orders to buy up as many as those trendy items — Marvel and Stars Wars action figures, Paw Patrol, Nerf, laser toys, tailgate speakers and iHome — early and often, Nowlin said with a laugh.

Thorton serves as the local community officer with Toys for Tots. South Whidbey’s Toys for Tots drive has been handled the past two years by Col. Richard “Buck” Francisco Marine Corps League Detachment 1451.

Since October, Toys for Tots collected $25,600 and spent: $20,700, so they’ll be starting balance for next year, said Tom Keltner, also with the Marine Corps League.

On one weekend alone, $10,000 was collected from people waiting to board ferries in Clinton and Mukilteo, Thorton said.

“This is a lot of fun,” Thorton said. “This is really what Christmas is all about.”

Luna called Readiness to Learn Foundation “a lifeline” when she found herself on Whidbey Island three years ago living in an RV with three young sons. A traumatic turn of events changed her family status from upper middle class to homeless.

“We just felt so embraced by the organization,” she said. “They were both logistically and emotionally supportive. It’s such a gift to have them in the community.”

Readiness to Learn family coordinators gave her information on local food banks and other community resources, which ultimately helped her start her own kids’ entertainment and educational business called Fairy Magic.

The organization is based out of South Whidbey Community Center alongside many other social services agencies. A Family Resource Center has a pot of perennially brewing coffee and there’s comfortable chairs, couches, informational brochures and books for kids.

Readiness to Learn also sponsors annual programs, Ready for School and Ready for Rain in the fall and winter.

Holiday House is designed to give parents a pleasant and private way to provide gifts for their children without the expense or stigma, Nowlin said. It also puts them in charge.

“Every study shows choice is what creates happiness,” she added. “Being able to choose what you have really makes a difference…We want these kids to go back to school after the holidays and feel like they were part of the American Dream.”

After calling and setting a time to shop, parents push a small shopping cart through rows and rows of bright toys, stop at another table for stocking stuffers, then wheel into another room bursting with bright paper, ribbons, bows and decorated bags. Volunteers offer to wrap presents or parents can do it themselves.

“We do this every year, sign up for an afternoon to wrap presents,” said Serene Armstrong as she pulled out strands of ribbon alongside friends, Shelly Knapp and Peggy Zafarana. “It’s just an amazing program.”

Volunteers Shelly Knapp, left, Serene Armstrong and Peggy Zafarana wrap toys selected by parents who came into Holiday House at the South Whidbey Community Center. (Photo by Patricia Guthrie/Whidbey News Group)