Special Delivery: Crafton families in need treated to holiday gift exchange at annual luncheon

Publish Date: Dec. 20, 2023

Christmas came early for more than a dozen Crafton Hills College families, all thanks to a longstanding holiday tradition that started in the mid-1990s.

On Dec. 15, Good Ol’ Saint Nick and his merry elves from the College’s Psychology Club surprised guests with a catered lunch and bags filled with Barbies, trucks, dinosaurs, and much, much more.

“This is so cool!” shouted one child as they began the unwrapping process. “Mom, look what I got!” shouted another.

Dr. Diane Pfahler, a professor of psychology and club advisor, co-founded the giveaway at the site’s sister college, San Bernardino Valley College, in 1996. Since then, it has grown to support Crafton EOPS, CARE, CalWORKS, NextUp, and DREAMers Scholar students in need of a hand-up.

Invited families each submitted wish lists to event organizers, and members of the Crafton community took time out of their busy schedules to fulfill each request. For example, 5-year-old Mavery Butler of Yucaipa asked for Barbies, while older youth asked for Starbucks and Panda Express gift cards.

“I think this is really nice for the kids, especially for these families here today,” shared Mavery’s mom, Alex Lechner, a respiratory care student at Crafton. “Inflation has impacted a lot of families, including my own, and this was just a really nice gesture, a really great one, especially for the kids.”

 “These are tough years for everybody, and the kids especially feel that stress, but they do not show it in the ways we do,” added Pfahler. “This is a fun event to show that we are here for them.

“Maybe more importantly for me,” she continued, “it sets the next generation [of students] by seeing their parents here. That’s what really matters to me – that they know this is a place to come.”