Making Christmas possible for a single mother of three
Betsy Espinoza is a dedicated single mom who loves her three children more than anything in this world. She works hard every day at a local construction materials store to provide a stable and safe life for her Xavi, Elian, and Avani, who are all under the age of six and inquisitive, adorable, and very energetic.
“I've managed to do it all on my own, but it's been hard,” Betsy said. “I still managed to get through it, because they're my kids, and I have to be there for them and be able to support them.”
Even though Betsy works hard, a single income means a tight budget, which has implications on the breadth of Christmas. At first, Betsy was content that their Christmas would be small but heartfelt and surrounded by family.
"Being able to do Christmas together is important, family is what matters the most,” she said. “It means a lot when we get all together, we're able to hang out, the kids see their cousins, and being able to do everything together during the holidays.”
She didn't expect Christmas to get a lot bigger when her former co-worker, Lynn Schmidt, got in touch with her. Lynn wanted Betsy to participate in the SVdP Adopt-a-Family program.
Lynn is the volunteer coordinator for the program, which serves families in need of holiday help, pairing them with donors who want to ensure every family, no matter their financial circumstance, has a special Christmas. The donors buy and deliver presents and a holiday meal so that families can make holiday memories to last a lifetime, regardless of the struggles they might be going through.
Lynn thought Betsy would be a perfect candidate to be an adopted family, and after Betsy saw that it would only bring blessings to the kids, she agreed to it.
While Betsy’s adopting family decided to stay anonymous from both this story and Betsy herself, Lynn worked with them to get presents for each member of Betsy’s family, then brought them to Betsy’s house herself just a week before Christmas Day.
When she brought the boxes overflowing with gifts, the kids each reacted in their own way. Avani hugged close to her mother, Xavi quietly and patiently watched and helped where he could, and Elian couldn’t contain his excitement as he ran around and closely examined each gift.
"It means a lot to me, and I appreciate SVdP and the volunteers being able to do this for us, as a single mom,” Betsy said. “It does get hard sometimes, so I'm grateful and blessed to be able to have this opportunity for my kids."
Scroll for more photos of Betsy's family enjoying their presents.
