Valley Hospital continues gift drive tradition, giving to families in need

On a bitterly cold winter day, carloads of gifts pulled up to North Pines Middle School and Broadway Elementary School in Spokane Valley.

One by one, the cars were unloaded into the arms of school staff, who were excited to brighten up the holiday season for local families.

Since 2015, MultiCare Valley Hospital and the leadership teams at North Pines and Broadway have been looking outside their “typical” job roles to ensure they’re meeting every need of local children and families.

“My whole belief as principal, as a person, is I want my kids to be happy and their needs met — their education, but also their physical, mental and social-emotional health,” says Jeremy Vincent, North Pines principal. “Life can be really hard, so let’s not have school be one of those places.”

Whether that means bringing guest speakers to North Pines or physicians to help with annual physicals, the gift drive is just another way MultiCare is joining schools in these efforts.

“MultiCare Valley Hospital has a longstanding relationship with both Broadway and North Pines, and we’re excited to continue that during what is often a very challenging time of year for many students and their families,” says Heather Kohoutek, Valley Hospital associate chief nursing executive. “While a gift drive may not seem like a typical thing for a health care system to do, seeing the truckloads of gifts pull out of the lot is a true testament to the caring spirit of the team here at Valley. We’re so proud to be part of this community and to play even a small role in meeting the needs of our neighbors.”

The gift drive first began in 2015 when staff asked how they could give back during the holiday season, says Cherne Haskell, MultiCare Inland Northwest regional director of provider outreach.

“It meant a lot to us, especially when we unexpectedly had to get ready to take in a newborn. It meant that my kids would have presents under the tree.”
— Broadway family

These schools are right in our backyard, and we know there are many families struggling to make ends meet, she says.

People hauling in toys for a toy drive.

Broadway Elementary has one of the highest rates of students using the free and reduced lunch program in the district, says Lori Johnson, Broadway principal. Vincent, North Pines principal, says 70 percent of his students use the program, and the school enrolls 60 English language development (ELD) students, one-third of whom are Ukrainian refugees.

Ten families from both schools are selected by school staff and asked to fill out a form of items they need and items they want. How “family” is defined is up to them — whether that’s a single parent and their children or a multigenerational household. That information is then dispersed to the teams at Valley who have volunteered to adopt a family for the year.

“I’m always very struck by how hard it is to get the parents to say anything they want. They only want things for the kids,” says Rhiannon Catlett, North Pines counselor. “Usually, we finally settle on things like restaurant gift cards to take their kids out for dinner.”

Catlett says the students are very sweet in the process and hesitant to request bigger-ticket items, but she always encourages them to at least ask.

“We were really grateful for everything they got us. It helped us out a lot.”
— Broadway family

Vincent remembers seeing a shiny red bike arrive at the school in 2021 and thinking “a bike is so big and awesome, and they’re always going to remember getting it.”

Johnson says she’s often surprised by the basic things families ask for, like socks, underwear, shoes and winter clothes. She adds that sometimes families say no when asked to participate because they believe another family needs it more.

“People are doing their best with what they’ve got. They’re working hard to keep everything afloat,” says Lynn Hutchins, Broadway counselor. “As we celebrate the holidays and are excited about time off together, this season can also cause stresses and strains. Lots of kids get their meals at school and some parents’ jobs don’t give them that time off.”

Not only does this drive help those with financial constraints, but also those who don’t have the time or transportation to go shopping, Hutchins adds.

Both schools use a variety of criteria and background information to select families each year. They take into consideration which families are using resources like meal bags, and which families have experienced extreme circumstances recently, such as illness or job loss — or even homelessness.

Vincent adds that his students’ families have historically faced financial hardships, but this year compared to last, families seem to be struggling even more with housing.

“It goes beyond the specific gifts a family gets and the specific holiday it impacts,” Johnson says. “The gift drive creates a feeling of caring. I’ve seen students and families just light up because they see that someone actually cares about them enough to do this.”

Catlett says in her role as a school counselor, she often sees these students when they’re struggling. She can’t help with many of those challenges, but the gift drive gives her the opportunity to spread a little extra magic.

“I personally end up crying at one point or another,” she says. “It’s so awesome to see, helps us keep going and it’s great to know we have that community support.”