Scott Swanson
Christmas spirit reigned Friday afternoon, Dec. 20, in the Sweet Home School District Board Room.
It was the culmination of the inaugural Operation Happy Hearts, an effort to provide gifts for children who have parents serving in the military overseas during the holidays.
Five children, from two local families, received gifts in the effort organized by Trisha Van Eck, Student Services secretary for the district.
“The turnout was a lot more than I had expected,” said Van Eck. “Our community was so gracious and generous.”
Three of the five recipients were Matt Levesque, 17, Ethan Dunaway, 11, and Jackson Dunaway, 6, of Hawthorne, whose father, William Dunaway, is serving with the Oregon Air National Guard in Kuwait. The other two were Paetyn Gardner, 7, and Mason Gardner, 3, of Foster, whose mother Jessica is serving in the Army National Guard “somewhere in the Middle East,” said their father Dennis, who is also in the National Guard.
Van Eck said she came up with the idea for Operation Happy Hearts after watching “Operation Christmas,” a Hallmark film about a single mother who decides to give back to struggling military families while her boyfriend is deployed overseas.
Van Eck said school officials were able to identify only the five youngsters as those living in the district and having parents deployed, the criteria for participating. She said she contacted school counselors, who put together lists of what the children were hoping for, and she talked with the parents, who gave her additional ideas. Donors took tags placed on a Christmas tree at the district office, where they brought presents.
Van Eck said about 30 donors participated, including school district employees and a family friend who lives in Albany. “Every tag was returned.”
Van Eck and her husband Jason, a School Board member and Sweet Home Police sergeant, also took the children shopping at Bi-Mart, where they selected gifts which Van Eck mailed to the deployed parents.
The kids clearly appreciated their gifts, which awaited them on a table at the end of the board room – particularly Paetyn, who was clearly thrilled.
In fact, it probably wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that pure joy reigned as they opened the elaborately wrapped presents.
“How much money did these cost?” Paetyn exclaimed, open-mouthed, as she approached her pile of gift.
“Is that insane?” she exclaimed as she opened one.
Jackson was close behind on the Thrill Meter: “I don’t know who gave this to me, but this is the coolest thing ever!” he said as he opened a Gas Out game.
Down the table, Mason was struggling with a ribbon as he opened a package containing a dinosaur.
“Oh yeah, I got it,” he exclaimed as he got the wrapping off. “Oh yeah!” as he surveyed the tyrannosaurus rex.
Van Eck said she thought each recipient got pretty much everything on his or her list.
She said she wasn’t sure how it would all play out, but “I’m definitely going to do it again.”
The movie story was “very heartfelt,” and she said she wasn’t sure how it would play out in real life, but “it was better than I expected.”
“When it came together at the end, it had a great feeling, like I hoped it would. The smiles on the kids’ faces made it worth it.
“We have a great community. I appreciate it.”