Mountain America Participates in "Elves and The Shoemaker" Initiative
Low-income elementary students from three schools within the Davis School District in Utah received the donated items.
In the Davis School District, more than 1,200 school-aged children are classified as homeless. On December 16, faculty members acting as elves surprised 160 kindergarteners at Wasatch, Fremont and South Clearfield Elementary Schools with brand new socks and shoes.
In partnership with the Davis Education Foundation, Mountain America Credit Union and other donors sponsored the items to help underserved students.
“Many students in our community need some basic things that most of us take for granted,” says David Thal, assistant principal at Fremont Elementary. “The delight on the students' faces when they get their new shoes is magical. Make no mistake, Christmas magic is alive and well! We are so grateful to the donors who helped us with this special experience. It will be one of those events that some of them will remember for the rest of their lives.”
What began at Wasatch Elementary years ago is now a yearly tradition for several schools in the Davis School District. The activity started with a kindergarten teacher reading “The Elves and The Shoemaker,” a book that portrays a shoemaker who receives help from three generous elves. At the end of the reading, kindergarteners followed the sound of bells, a sign of elves as per the story, to the library. When they entered the library, each received a wrapped gift with their name on it. Enclosed, each student found a new pair of shoes.
“Mountain America has a strong commitment to the communities where our members live,” said Spencer Carver, assistant vice president of select employer groups at Mountain America Credit Union. “We are grateful for any opportunity we have to support causes that matter. Our goal is to continually bring untold value into dozens of communities, positively affecting thousands of lives, especially youth."
“What’s better than new shoes and socks?” asked Robert Kinghorn, a principal at South Clearfield Elementary School. “It’s always exciting when we can provide shoes for every one of our kindergarten students. This has grown into a multi-school effort as we tag-teamed with other schools to ensure more students will be getting new shoes. This is all because of the love and donations from the amazing partnerships we have through the Davis Education Foundation.”
For more information about The Elves and The Shoemaker visit americanliterature.com.
# # #
Media Contact
Contact our Public Relations team at publicrelations@macu.com for media inquiries.
