Francis Martinez, Meme Morales Dec. 6, 2017
On December 5, the multicultural sorority of Kappa Delta Chi and the multicultural fraternity of Sigma Lambda Beta held their annual Christmas event, Winter Wonderland. Despite the sudden blast of cold weather, the families invited came out to enjoy the holiday festivities with the sisters and brothers of each organization.
Winter Wonderland is an annual Christmas event that these two organizations put on in order to help underprivileged families across the city of Lubbock. They provide gifts and activities for the children to enjoy because these families run the risk of not having a Christmas at all.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in Lubbock between 2011 and 2015, the population of individuals below the poverty line was at 19.4%. In 2015, the American Community Survey stated that 33.8% of children under the age of six were living below the poverty line.
Abigail Hernandez, president of Kappa Delta Chi, said the event consists of the two organizations choosing a few families that could use a little extra help during the holidays and they give them gifts and a turkey so they can have something for a Christmas dinner.
“The holidays is a really hard time for these families financially so we do what we can to make sure everybody can feel the holiday spirit,” Hernandez said.
There were three families that came out to the event. One family had two kids, the second family had five kids, one of which was a baby, and the third family had three kids. They came out with their respective parents, grandparent and guardians.
Hernandez said that as a sorority, it is important to give back to the community and be involved because it shows that the organization cares about the community and will do anything they can to help those in need.
“I joined Kappa Delta Chi because I wanted to give back to my community and this is one of those times where everyone deserves to have happiness during the holidays,” Hernandez said. “Serving others during this time, a time where they shouldn’t have to struggle is why this event is important.”
Hernandez has been a sister of Kappa Delta Chi for four years now and has participated in the Winter Wonderland event several times and shared her favorite memories about the event and the families that are helped.
“My favorite memories are always the simple things that we do with the families, we drink hot chocolate and color with the kids,” Hernandez said. “That’s something so simple but they seem to really enjoy it and spending that time with the kids is always fun.”
Marcus Ngwu, president of Sigma Lambda Beta, said that this event makes Christmas happen for these families and it gives the kids an opportunity to have a Christmas because part of being a kid is having a Christmas.
“Not all of us have a silver spoon in our mouths, some people come from lower class families and people have given back to us,” Ngwu said. “We have the opportunity now to give back to the community so we would like to make this happen for others because if we don’t then who will?”
Ngwu said that seeing the kids’ faces as they open up their presents is priceless and it is one of his favorite memories of this event.
“I’ve participated in this event for three years now and seeing the kids look under the tree and see that the gifts are for them are great,” Ngwu said. “They open the presents and get really happy because it’s something they actually want, that is priceless.”
Data Information: https://create.piktochart.com/output/26701087-final-multimedia-package-idv
Sources:
Abigail Hernandez – alpha.president@kappadeltachi.org
Marcus Ngwu – marcus.ngwu@ttu.edu
Francis Martinez 