‘I Got Everything
I Wanted - And More’

Children who remain on campus for the holidays find plenty to be happy about on Christmas morning.

by DARRYL MELLEMA

Sarah Perry was happy with the football she got on Christmas morning.

> As she worked through opening her presents on Christmas morning, Sarah Perry’s face kept breaking into a smile. Whether it was the football she received or any of a number of other presents, she found something to be happy with.

After opening all her packages, she summed up her feelings in one simple sentence.

“I got everything I wanted - and more!” she said.

Sarah Perry is a 16-year old high-school junior at Mooseheart. On Christmas morning, she took time to remember some of the other gifts she’s received--none larger than her chance to live and go to school thanks to the kind hearts of the men and women of the Moose.

“This place does a lot for you, a lot more than people actually realize,” Sarah said.

One of the things Mooseheart provides is a place to celebrate the holidays. While most of the 240 residents of the Child City return home to spend Christmas break with guardians, there are always some for whom a trip off-campus is not an option.

This year, around 20 children spent Christmas at Mooseheart, including middle-school and high-school-age girls who stayed at the Washington-Northern Idaho home.

That was where Sarah Perry, her sister Jessica and four other girls opened their presents on Christmas morning.

Jessica Perry has been at Mooseheart for a year and a half, and the 15-year high school freshman said she still misses Christmas at home. But she was still enjoying the holidays.

“Last year, I wasn’t that positive, but I’m trying to be more positive this year,” Jessica Perry said. “I think it’s a great time to be around families and to get together.”

In the spirit of the season, Jessica Perry said she was thinking about more than the things she got, although she was quite pleased when she found a number of new books to read under the Christmas tree.

“It’s really important to realize what God has done for us throughout the year,” Jessica Perry. “We always think, at Christmas, that God did so much for us. We should be thinking that all year round.”

Debbie Aharoni, the director for Community Two, which includes high school and middle school girls, said Mooseheart’s students also participated in community service projects through the holiday season.

“The kids receive a lot of gifts,” Aharoni said. “We want to make sure they understand appreciation for those gifts and giving out to other people too.”

But there is also a committed effort to make Christmas as special as it can be for the students, whether or not they leave for home at the holidays.

“It’s a great opportunity for these kids to have a true sense of Christmas, because a lot of them haven’t had much before they came here.”

Those students who remained on campus through the holidays stayed in four residence homes. The six girls at Washington-Northern Idaho Home, for example, all live in different homes throughout the school year. “I notice, every year, more and more kids are going home,” Aharoni said. “It gets quieter and quieter at Christmas time.”

Kayla Wood, a 12-year old seventh-grader, was happy with CDs she got for Christmas. “I like giving and seeing other people get gifts,” she said.

Kayla’s 14-year old sister Tessa is a freshman at Mooseheart High School. Among gifts she was especially happy with was a digital camera.

Gift From Interlochen is Musical to Marco

Marco Namowicz removes his new clarinet from its case. The instrument is a gift from the Interlochen Center For the Arts.

> Somewhere between the box and the bubble wrap, 17-year-old Marco Namowicz came to realize what he had received in the box marked “Interlochen Center For The Arts” on the address label.

The gift from the country’s premier music camp to the Mooseheart junior was a clarinet. Not just any clarinet, but a well-refurbished professional-level instrument.

Over an over again, Namowicz repeated the same word: “Wow.”

“It’s something from Interlochen, so it’s something to bring back those special memories,” Namowicz said. “I’m really excited and it’s really awesome that they did this for me.”

Namowicz attended Interlochen in northern Michigan in 2007, the first Mooseheart student to attend the camp. He said he hopes to return in summer 2008, and now he has a clarinet of his own on which to practice.

“It’s a good brand and a good instrument,” Namowicz said. “Wow. There’s nothing else to say.”

Namowicz said he thinks about Interlochen on a daily basis.

“First the scholarship that they gave me and now this,” Namowicz said. “Wow. To do all of this for one person. It means a lot.”

From the annual lighting of the Mooseheart Christmas tree (sponsored by the Wisconsin Moose Association), the holiday season is a time of festive good cheer at the Child City. A group of employees at BP America decided that, rather than a traditional Christmas party, they would support an area organization, and picked Mooseheart.


Suriah Randolph happily opened one of her gifts.


The annual band concert showcased the musical talents of many students, including Blake Mason.


As in past years, Brownie and Girl Scouts came to the Moose International headquarters building to sing carols.