SOUTH JORDAN, Utah — The Jordan School District and dozens of volunteers are hoping to make a memorable Christmas for hundreds of students facing behavioral, learning and financial challenges.
Equipped with gift cards, chaperones and students set out to Walmart to shop their hearts out thanks to generous donations from the community.
“Many of these students are in homes that won’t get much," explained Mike Haynes, Executive Director of the Jordan Education Foundation. "But the resources that are available through the district, through the foundation, we’re helping get those students through challenging times.”
The South Valley School is a post-high school transition school for students with disabilities. The Jordan Education Foundation raised nearly $90,000 to help make a shopping spree possible for more than 600 students.
A few students brought their wishlists, filled with necessities like clothes as well as fun toys, electronics, home items and more.
“This will be a great opportunity for these kids to come and enjoy a Christmas shopping experience where the community has donated enough money to allow every student $150 to shop,” Haynes explained.
As the students shopped, chaperones kept a running total and then headed to checkout when their carts were full.
“I’m excited," exclaimed one student. "I got a Google TV that I’m excited to use, it’s like a Chromecast but yeah!"
The event earlier in the week was a precursor to a much larger shopping extravaganza when roughly 600 students from the school will participate in their shopping sprees.
It's not too late to donate to the drive, as the Jordan Education Foundation is still collecting monetary contributions as well as filling chaperone slots. Click here to learn more.
