Names of Note: Holiday help abounds in Modesto area, including a thoughtful 6-year-old
Twenty students at Shackelford School have new bicycles for Christmas thanks to a 6-year-old with a generous heart.
Easton Baker, the home-schooled son of Peter and Fallon Baker of Riverbank, made and sold candy canes to raise money for the bikes, plus helmets. They were delivered Thursday at the south Modesto campus to students selected for character traits, academic progress and attendance, a news release from Modesto City Schools said.
The family said Easton and little sister Avery were drawing candy canes when he got the idea for making real ones and selling them to buy the bikes. More than 1,000 of the treats emerged from the home kitchen.
Easton’s plan for next Christmas? Making and selling enough gingerbread houses to buy 30 bikes for other kids.
Letters to Santa
This year’s Letters to Santa drive raised about $268,000 to help Stanislaus County families in need at the holidays. Two of the families, both dealing with cancer, got something extra.
Modesto firefighter Justin Crone founded Letters to Santa in 2009 to provide food and gifts for families chosen by local schools. The latest version is providing full turkey dinners for 720 families, four college scholarships and two athletic scholarships, board member Megan Bruce said by email.
Letters for Santa benefited a total of 2,137 children at 16 schools in Turlock, Denair, Keyes, Waterford, Ceres and Modesto. The group also donated to other toy and food drives.
Letters to Santa money was especially helpful to two unnamed families with a member facing cancer. For one, the group paid a month’s worth of utility bills, helped with a small remodeling project, and provided gift cards for food. The other family got bills paid for a month, plus household supplies, repair of a broken sink, and Christmas gifts.
Kiwanis Club steps up
Sixty-two families in need got help in the annual holiday drive by the Kiwanis Club of North Modesto. Members provided each family with a turkey and multiple boxes of other foods, plus a toy and books for each child. They also got baskets of art activities made by a retired educator.
The annual Christmas effort is funded by the club’s American Graffiti Festival & Car Show. The June event also raises money for local nonprofits, most of them serving children, and scholarships for high school seniors.
And finally ...
Santa Claus paid a pre-Christmas visit to patients and their parents in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Doctors Medical Center. It cares for babies who were born prematurely or have other medical needs.
Names of Note recognizes people and organizations for their contribution to their communities. Submit items to jholland@modbee.com.
