SPOKANE, Wash. – The magic of Christmas, of Santa Claus, of simply believing, is a feeling nobody should miss out on. For the fifth year in a row, Northwest Autism Center is doing their best to make sure no child or adult with developmental disabilities is forgotten this holiday season.
The 5th Annual Giving Tree, a tradition that touches many lives, has kicked off in Spokane.
“All we want to do is make sure everybody has a Christmas present under their tree this year, and we can keep that spirit and excitement of Christmas alive and the magic of Santa,” Northwest Autism Center, Community Connections Jordan Longacre said.
Since 2018, the non-profit organization has worked with city partners and those who live across the region, to make sure a gift is under the Christmas tree for hundreds of children and adults with developmental disabilities, like autism, who live in residential care homes across our region.
One of those recipients is Tia Meckle.
“I love Christmas, it’s one of my favorite times of the year,” Meckle said. “And I love opening gifts.”
Opening presents on Christmas morning, surrounded by family or friends, is a feeling that is hard to replicate; when you get older, it can feel almost nostalgic.
“Almost like I’m a kid again,” Meckle said.
Meckle is 30 years old, but she is still the first person to wake everyone up on Christmas morning, eager to get the day rolling. On Christmas Eve, she is with her family. But on Christmas Eve, Meckle is with her friends at home, in the residential care home she lives in; she has a developmental disability.
Her dream gift?
“The Lego Harry Potter castle – the Hogwarts castle,” she said.
And maybe, with the help of Santa’s elves here in Spokane, this year will be the year that Meckle gets to open her dream gift – though, any gift will bring a smile to her face.
“The holidays can be a really isolating time of year for people, especially for those that are developmentally disabled and living in these care facilities,” Longacre said. “Often, they don’t have family or friends that are there to give them gifts – so we just love being able to be that secret Santa, to provide them with these gifts and partner with the Spokane community, to get these gifts for these residents.”
In the last four years, Northwest Autism Center has delivered more than 1,400 hundred gifts to residents across the region who have developmental disabilities or autism. Recipients’ ages range anywhere from seven years old to the center’s oldest client, at 82.
This year, they’re partnering with around 75 different group homes to make sure Christmas morning is perfect. Each care home provides a wish list to Northwest Autism Center, full of specific desires – these could be anywhere from a new pair of pajamas to an iPad used for social interactions, possibly if a recipient is unable to communicate on their own.
And with your help, hundreds of these gifts can be delivered by Christmas. Northwest Autism Center’s deadline to have all gifts at their office in Spokane is December 12; this gives them enough time to wrap each gift.
“We work with Spokane Leadership, and they come in and do a lot of the wrapping for us, then we can distribute the gifts to the homes,” Longacre said.
And those gifts, each sweetly wrapped by individuals who simply want to bring joy to others’ lives, will be waiting under multiple trees on Christmas morning.“Just like a gift you’d get under your tree – there’s nothing else on it, it basically says, ‘this is from Santa, just for you,’ so it’s really a special way to keep that Christmas magic alive,” Longacre said.
Presents waiting to be unwrapped, by people like Meckle. She’s counting down the days.
“To my family I would probably say that I love all of them, and I hope they have a wonderful Christmas,” Meckle said. “And to Santa, I hope that I get my Lego set that I want.”
A wish list is now available on Northwest Autism Center’s website, full of gift ideas. For those of you out in the community, if you’d like to donate, you can either buy a specific gift and drop it off at 528 E Spokane Falls Blvd., or you can donate money so the center can buy gifts themselves.
Right now, around 55 gifts have been registered, far from the goal of 255 this season. Your support will make the world of a difference! Again, the deadline is December 12!
