From left: Jill Cumnock & Reverend John Peel,
Frisco Family Services; Rudy Andrea, Thamara De Leon, Small World;
Kimberly Girard, Frisco Family Services, Janet Maccubbin, City of
Frisco at After All These Years, Downtown Frisco. Photo by Steve
Gallegos of Lone Star Photography. |
 "...it is important to remember during the holiday season that
while we are all in need, there are always those 'in need' more."
Small World
by Debbie Vallejo
With Love It's A Small World was founded in 1996 by local school teacher, Thamara De Leon. De Leon conducted a random survey of her students
Christmas of '96 and realized many of them would not receive what one
would call "a real Christmas." She scrambled and helped as many
students as she could manage that year and the idea for the organization
was born.
Small World consists of three programs; the Back to School
Program, the Scholarship Program and the Angel (Christmas) Program. In
partnership with area schools, companies and the community, Small World
assists struggling families in need of food, clothing, shcool supplies,
emergency funds and holiday gifts. The goal is to provide for the basic
needs of the family to better enhance a child's ability to stay in school
and focus on his or her education.
The Frisco Independent School District (FISD) provides a
large amount of space during the Christmas season to house donations for
families involved in Small World. Each year the client list grows and
the needs of the organization grow with it. "We are 100% volunteer,"
explains Rudy Andrea, Vice President of Public Relations and Special
Events. "We are not compensated for the time we spend on this program.
We do it because we believe in helping out our kids."
Small World is unique because it made the commitment to
keep overhead expenses down to nothing. "One hundred percent of donations
go to the families," says Andrea. Understandably, when a non-profit
relies soley on volunteers to keep its program running, there is always
room for anyone willing to lend a helping hand. "We really need volunteers
to help coordinate the resources like gifts and food. Coordinating the
gifts has become a monumental task," explains Andrea.
 Acknowledgement
This feature is an excerpt from the November 2005 issue
of Frisco Style
Magazine, a lifestyle magazine for the community of Frisco, Texas.
The full article was written by Debbie Vallejo, a freelance writer living
in Frisco. |
