Benny Westcott and Scott Swanson
A Sweet Home family was surprised by an avalanche of gifts on Christmas Eve after being selected for Timber Unity’s third annual Family Christmas Surprise.
Renice Lizama-Meston and her two daughters, 16-year-old Micaylah Meston and seven-year-old Sadie Lizama, were chosen by Timber Unity board secretary Tasha Webb because of their volunteer efforts this year for the 65,000-member Oregon organization, despite living through what many would consider to be challenging circumstances.
Timber Unity uses a Facebook page to raise money for the gifts.
Renice, a single mother since April 2019, mentioned to Webb one day that she was looking for a place to park the family’s fifth-wheel camper.
“To me, [our circumstance] was not a big deal. But to [Webb], it was,” Renice told The New Era . “I was just doing what I was put here to do, which is to help others. So she threw it right back at me. I’m extremely thankful for that.”
Renice was in on the surprise, but her daughters were not.
“I’m the one who helped [Webb] get the gift ideas for the girls,” she said. “The girls didn’t know about it.”
The crew launched their plan as night fell on Christmas Eve. Webb called Renice, telling her that her RV had broken down at the high school, and that her husband Jimmy had gone to find a new tire.
“I’ve got to help my friend,” Renice told her daughters. “She’s got a flat tire.”
So the family piled into their Jeep and drove to the high school.
When the kids realized they’d been surprised and saw the presents in the RV, they started crying from the emotion of it all.
It was then time to open the gifts. Micaylah got a ChromeBook. Sadie received scores of Barbies. Other items included a Cricut (an electronic cutting machine that can cut designs from materials like paper, vinyl, card stock and iron-on transfers), lots of Carhart clothes, an Oculus Quest 2 virtual reality headset, a 12-by-12-foot pop-up canopy, a propane tank and a 360-degree portable heater.
“I would never have been able to afford all of this on my own,” Renice said. “My income alone is not enough to pay rent, and Sadie’s biological father is not paying spousal or child support.”
Renice was a bus monitor and classroom substitute aid with the Sweet Home School District before she took a leave in October amidst struggles to find a permanent place to park her fifth-wheel. The family had previously lived at the Fir View Villa manufactured home park in Sweet Home, where “the trailers were so far below code it wasn’t even funny,” she said. “A lot of those trailers need to be condemned.”
She moved her family into the fifth-wheel out of necessity and is happy she’s found a spot on the east side of town for now.
“We needed a safe place for my kids that I could afford,” she said. “We spent seven months trying to find a place to park the trailer. At least we are not constantly moving around at the moment.”
Despite their troubles, the family found time to focus on others. In August, they joined Timber Unity’s effort to deliver more than 300 tons of hay to farmers in Malin, a small community south of Klamath Falls along the California border. Its basin experienced a crisis in May when the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced that it would allocate no water for the Klamath Project, which supplies Klamath Basin farmers. It normally irrigates approximately 200,000 acres of farmland.
But this year ranchers struggled to feed their animals; some sold off entire herds to survive. The hay also helped victims of the 413,717-acre Bootleg Fire, which destroyed 161 homes and thousands of acres of grazing land in Southern Oregon between July and August.
The family rose at 1:30 a.m. to help load hay into a trailer and joined the southbound “Hay for Hope” convoy, overcoming such difficulties as a blown motor to eventually reach Malin. They didn’t return home until 3 a.m. the following morning. They also helped this year with Timber Unity wildfire relief efforts.
“We are into the whole forestry thing. We are all for it – we support them,” Renice said of Timber Unity. “They are all about helping others.”
Along with Timber Unity, the family participates in other organizations. Renice and Micaylah are both involved with Oregon Cowboy Convoy and Cowgirl 911. Additionally, Renice is a member of Cascade Ridge Runners 4X4 Search and Rescue, while her daughters are part of its Cascade Wilderness Youth group.
“I’ve always been one to help others regardless of my own struggles,” Renice said. “My situation sucks, but at the same time I know there are people out there who have it 1,000 times worse.”
She elaborated on her life philosophy: “We’ve paid for older folks’ groceries. I call everybody younger than me ‘young man’ or ‘young lady.’ I know that every little bit goes a long way. You never know who’s day you’re going to make. Simple little kindness acts can make someone who’s struggling say ‘Hey, wait a minute; life’s not that bad.'”
“If I can help, I’m game,” she continued. “We load up and we go – at the drop of a dime, no matter what time of day. If we don’t, no one else will.”