Waking up Christmas morning to Santa’s arrival is one of the most magical parts of the Christmas Spirit. Although many families love this cherished tradition, there are many huge financial barriers for some families to have presents under the tree. It takes tremendous hard work and dedication for many families to make the holidays special for their children. To help some families make ends meet during this expensive time, Milford High School has its annual holiday tradition of “Milford Miracles,” which raises money to help out those families that need a little bit of a lift. This financial assistance not only leads to tremendous gratitude, but also reminds Milford’s Leadership students what the Holidays are really about. This year Milford High School and the Milford community raised a total of $8,325, going to 15-20 families and making their Christmas extra special. The money raised in the weeks leading up to the big shopping day allows the students to create personal connections with these families and step into their shoes. Starting with classroom donations, each of the school’s departments had a way to collect spare change, and money from students and teachers.
Not only was it just cash, but Venmo was a huge attraction and contributor to the amount of money the school was able to raise this year. There were many different activities that allowed the students to raise even more money. For example, paying money to watch a Christmas movie, and raffles. Dean of students, Tommy Hipple won a raffle that contributed to Milford Miracles, and gave all the money back that he received. The Christmas movie was also a great way to help raise money, having students give seven dollars to watch “Home Alone”, all the money going to the experience.
As the school raises money to be able to give it back into the community, Leadership students get together families and groups, and make a list based off of their needs of what to help them out with. Whether shopping for a 2-year-old girl, or a 45-year-old mom, each person’s shoppers thoughtfully lay out their game plan. What makes this event so special in total is that each year the class picks a date and actually gets to go out and shop for their families. Leaving around 7:30 a.m. that day, students go to different stores to get everything they need to make their families’ Christmas a little bit brighter.
“Getting to go out and shop really brought our group into the Holiday spirit,” explained Senior Natalie Melody. “Last year when we went, it started to snow when we got out of the car and it was such a special experience.” Being able to partake in this experience has changed the perspective for many students.
Senior Marisa Merz also explains, “It opened my eyes to the true meaning of Christmas, helping out our community and the less fortunate was so special. I am extremely excited to do it again.” As much as the shopping aspect is so moving, being able to wrap everything up and then deliver the gifts is an unforgettable experience that makes students feel excessive amounts of gratitude. Senior Ashley Raya explained her Sophomore year Milford Miracles experience by saying, “Seeing what the families asked for made me so much grateful for what I have; there are many people around who may be struggling more than you might know.”
Leadership teacher David Gilbert runs the whole amazing experience and gets to see a new group of students experience this life changing event each year. Gilbert said, “The experience gives our high school students perspective and people within our community can be having a hard time and through this I am helping to continue the desire for them to help out.” He continues by talking about the project as a whole, “Helping families in the community bring the school together and connects it further to the community.” There are many special experiences and memories that Gilbert can speak about with families that have cherished what MHS has done for them, however,
“The one that hit me most to me and comes to my head every time, is a Mom who lost her husband and was then diagnosed with cancer. Helping out her family made the Holidays special for her in a time that was so insanely difficult.”
Although Milford Miracles is about giving gifts to families in need, it is important to remember during the Holidays that it isn’t about the things you have, but the people, love, and families around you. Being able to do this shows students to not take what they have for granted and that everyone should be grateful for the basic necessities that you need to survive, because some people, even friends, classmates, or family, struggle every day for those things and you might not even know it.
(Kate Kelly)