‘Dogs with Wings’ buy presents for local children
Megan Strickland
Kristina McClure and Dorothy von Holtum crunch numbers on how much of $50 they spent on a Lake County child in need. The pair teamed up during a recent Dogs with Wings shopping spree. Dogs with Wings Middle School students chopped branches, made boughs, and sold them to raise money for 13 children’s presents.
Megan Strickland
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ST. IGNATIUS – Every time a bough breaks, a Bulldog gets its wings. Last week, 23 members of the Mission Middle School Dogs With Wings group took profits raised from selling homemade Christmas wreaths, to Polson Walmart in an angelic purchasing frenzy that will provide Christmas presents for 13 Mission Valley Children.
“The kids love to shop,” teacher and Dogs with Wings coordinator Valerie Umphrey said. “We have some that this is the third year they’ve done it. They are kind of our leaders. The discussions are fascinating, because the kids will have a tag that says ‘ninja turtles and underwear.’ One kid will say ‘Oh, that kids needs underwear,’ and another will say ‘How would you like to wake up Christmas morning and have nothing but underwear?’ They really have to put some thought into it.”
Head scratching commenced, pencils and paper were broken out, and pocket calculators emerged as students tried to fit jigsaw puzzles of numbers together to balance needs and wants into a perfect gift full of Christmas magic. Students were allowed to spend up to $50 per gift recipient. Left over funds are saved for next year, and also help pay for holiday boxes sent to troops. The names and needs of children are relayed through Share the Spirit tags in the community.
“They never know who they are buying for and that’s the hardest thing because they want to see who gets it,” Umphrey said. “One lesson we get every year is the veterans - the eighth graders - really take a leadership role. The sixth graders, one of the first questions they ask is, ‘can I have some of the money?’ For years I haven’t had to say anything because the eighth graders will turn and go ‘It’s not about you.’”
This year, assistant shoppers Mission Police Chief Jeffrey Ferguson and School Resource Officer Clay Shoemaker gave the children a “shop with a cop” experience.
“It’s something we want to do for community outreach and show the kids they can always come with us,” Ferguson said. “It helps us build more of a relationship with them.”
CSKT forester Mark Couture, florist Connie Plaissay and others who helped the students make the wreaths that raised the funds for the shopping spree were also present for the gift buying.
Eighth grade Dogs with Wings President Kristina McClure has participated in Dogs with Wings for four years and said she will miss it when she moves on to high school next year.
“It’s really fun,” McClure said. “That’s what makes my Christmas, giving to these needy children.”
Dorothy von Holtum, the paraprofessional whom Umphrey calls “the driving force” behind the program said it’s something she looks forward to each winter.
“It just is what makes Christmas,” von Holtum said. “It’s the best thing I think we do all year. It just brings out the best in all of the kids.”
