400 Wish Lists Filled As Kevin's Kids Marks 40 Years In Manchester Schools

MANCHESTER, NJ — It started as an effort within a single school in the Manchester Township Schools, to ensure that a child who "Santa had never visited" experienced the joy of receiving gifts on Christmas.

A simple act, by the boy's teacher and Kevin Burger, then the principal at Whiting Elementary School, has become a uniting project in the years since, bringing together not only the families of the Manchester Schools but the Manchester community as a whole.

The project — now known as Kevin's Kids — marked its 40th year this Christmas season, fulfilling wish lists for 400 children and their families, school district officials said. It was a record effort in a year filled with a record level of need.

"A goal of Kevin’s Kids is not to collect generic gifts but to bring the community together to fundraise and shop from specific gift wish lists that are submitted by every family we are made aware of that is in need during the holiday season," the district said.

It was 1983 when a first-grader told his teacher, "Santa Claus never comes to my house." That child's simple statement led to the initial donation drive by Manchester Schools staff to help the boy and his family, along with a handful of other needy children, making sure their Christmas wishes are fulfilled.

The wish lists not only include toys and games but items that have a larger impact. Children have asked for work boots for their jobs after school, or bicycles so they could get to and from work. This year, one of the gifts was driving lessons for a student.

In a recent year, a student who received their first computer through Kevin's Kids went on to attend Massacehusetts Institute of Technology.

"By fulfilling a child’s specific gift list, we have helped them achieve," officials said. I

Every child also receives a warm coat each year.

"This is one of the Manchester Schools’ biggest fundraising efforts and it truly shows what a great community and place Manchester is to live and raise a family," said Alex George, director of student personnel services for the Manchester Township Schools, who chairs Kevin's Kids. "Kevin’s Kids is another reason that I am so proud to be a part of this school district and town. We are truly a family who works together to take care of those in our community."

And it is a community effort, from the volunteers who take wish lists and shop for the kids, to school bus drivers who pick up and transport gifts, to buildings and grounds employees who spend hours putting together toys and bicycles.

"It's a great feeling to be part of it," Joan Brush, Manchester Township Council president, said Monday night as she reflected on helping with this year's effort. Brush has been volunteering as a shopper with Kevin's Kids for 35 years, and said the response the volunteers receive in the community is heartwarming.

Senior communities, township businesses and organizations provide the donations that pay for the shopping, and space where the school district can hold gifts until the distribution.

The gifts are wrapped by Manchester Schools staff members during a marathon wrapping session on a Saturday, and the gifts are distributed anonymously to the families in time for Christmas.