Miracles for Kids, which provides food, clothing and shelter for families with critically ill children, was the driving force behind hundreds of Easter baskets assembled and delivered on April 2 by volunteers from all over Southern California, including Lakeside, Alpine and La Mesa.
Although the non-profit organization has worked since 2002 to provide critical services like financial support, housing and access to counseling to help families fighting against a child’s life-threatening illness, this particular Spring Basket of Miracles project was specifically designed to provide goodies like egg painting and dyeing kits, puzzles and games for children along with household and hygiene items for their families.
La Mesa resident and volunteer Susana Franco said there were about 50 volunteers on hand in Irvine to assemble the baskets. Most of the Easter baskets were slated to remain in Southern California but the delivery team was driving some as far away as Apple Valley and some were being shipped up to the San Francisco Bay area.
Several volunteers came to the event with lived experiences of childhood illness affecting their own family, like Alpine resident Jessica Kopach who said she remembers her brother’s leukemia treatments growing up.
“I know the hardships a family goes through while parents make sure all their children also get to have a life,” Kopach said, and participating in the event is one way she tries to help others.
She, Franco and Lakeside volunteer Brittney Falletta all said they feel it is important to give back to the community.
“With everything going on right now with COVID, it’s really important to give back as much as possible. We’re really fortunate and everything counts. Your time counts, your energy, donations, being involved with GoFundMe pages. I feel really fortunate to have this life we live and I personally know a lot of families that are struggling,” Falleta said.
This particular event “really spoke to me because there are so many kids out there I know need more”, Falletta said and she believes a little help goes a long way.
Her kids, she said, are lucky but she wants them to recognize
their luck in having food, shelter, clothing. Growing up, Falletta said, her Phillipine-born mother would tell her and her siblings they were lucky to have food their cousins would appreciate.
Franco said she grew up in a family of 10 with working parents. When an illness struck home, they received help, she said, that she wants to give back. When some friends told us about Miracles for Kids, it hit home.
“I’ve always looked for ways to give back and want to teach my kids to give back as well. We’ll pack some lunch bags or water on a hot day and as we’re out and about we hand them out to people we see who are less fortunate than us. When my sister who lives in Fullerton told me about Miracles for Kids I was like ‘yes’,” Franco said.
