Northampton mother embodies true spirit of giving back during the holidays
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NORTHAMPTON - Elizabeth Jimenez is living proof that the spirit of giving is not solely the purview of the "haves."
After the Northampton mother of two discovered recently that she had received extra gift vouchers from the Gazette's Sidney F. Smith Toy Fund, she sent them back. The fund distributes $40 vouchers to eligible families that can be used to buy children's gifts at participating stores.
"I could definitely use the other two," Jimenez, 37, wrote in a letter to the Gazette. "But I'm very grateful for that gift for my kids, since they don't get much. So, enclosed are the extra two checks."
Seated on the living room couch in the tidy Stoddard Street duplex she shares with her young children, Jimenez explained that she "wouldn't be able to sit with" keeping the extra toy vouchers.
"My kids are not the only ones who applied for that," she said, glancing over at Gloribel, 5 and Emanuel, 2, playing nearby. "I know other kids need it. So to be fair to everybody..."
Jimenez moved with her family from Philadelphia to the Pioneer Valley when she was a junior in high school. She first heard about the Toy Fund from her mother, Maria, a longtime staff assistant at the Northampton Survival Center.
In past years, Elizabeth Jimenez has used the certificates to buy coats and Christmas clothes for her kids.
"I still haven't gotten a chance to use this year's," she said, with a rueful smile. "But I have until Dec. 31."
Her job as a freelance medical interpreter for Casa Latina, a service and advocacy organization in Florence, doesn't allow for many holiday frills.
"I try do my best," she said, folding her hands quietly in her lap.
Meanwhile, her children scampered happily around the living room, showing off a mechanical Santa Claus figure and their newly decorated Christmas tree.
"This is my cousin," Gloribel said, taking a photo ornament off a branch to show a visitor.
Do they go to sleep on Christmas Eve or stay up all night?
"Stay up all night!" Gloribel announced firmly, shaking her long, dark ponytail.
"You wish," teased her mom from the couch.
Reached at her Northampton home later in the day, Maria Jimenez said the straight-ahead generosity her daughter showed in sending back the extra Toy Fund vouchers is not unusual.
"Elizabeth's just always been like that," she said.
The holidays can be an especially tough time for families who are struggling to get by, Maria Jimenez said. "It's hard when a kid asks for an iPod or a cell phone and you can't get that for them," she noted.
That's why her family focuses on being together and sharing what they do have. They'll celebrate three family birthdays on Christmas Eve - including Maria's 60th.
"The house is so tiny and we're a big family," she said. "But we enjoy each other's company. We all bring food and everybody chips in."
So far, more than $50,000 has been raised toward this year's goal of $75,000 for the Gazette's Toy Fund. To be eligible, families must live in any Hampshire County community except Ware, or in the southern Franklin County towns of Deerfield, Sunderland, Whatley, Shutesbury and Leverett.
This year, stores on the list are: A2Z Science and Learning Store, 57 King St., Northampton; Deals & Steals, 76 Pleasant St., Northampton; Faces, 175 Main St., Northampton; F.J. Rogers, 3 Main St., Florence; Peebles Department Store, 2 College Highway, Southampton; J.C. Penney, 341 Russell St., Hadley; The Mountain Goat, 189 Main St., Northampton; Target, Route 9, Hadley; The Toy Box, 201 North Pleasant St., Amherst; and Wilson's Department Store, 258 Main St., Greenfield.
Donations may be dropped off at or mailed to the Daily Hampshire Gazette at 115 Conz St., Northampton, MA 01060 or Gazette offices at 67 Main St. Easthampton or 9 East Pleasant St., Amherst. Donations may also be made online through GazetteNET at www.gazettenet.com.
Checks should be made payable to the Sidney F. Smith Toy Fund.
