College Achieve Asbury Park Is 'Saving Christmas'

ASBURY PARK – College Achieve Asbury Park is saving Christmas, the school says.

In a tableau straight out of a storybook, as the snowstorm swirls outside, the Asbury Park campus has transformed into Santa’s workshop in which the school’s team (dubbed Santa’s Elves) has been working to wrap hundreds of gifts for its students, according to a press release.

Most of Asbury Park’s students come from families that live below the poverty line (more than 90 percent of the students qualify for the federal Free and Reduced Lunch Program). But the pandemic led to a surge in joblessness, devastating families who had already been economically challenged.

With thousands of dollars’ worth of donations coming in from families and businesses throughout the community, the school will be able to provide each and every student with a personalized gift.

This has been a months-long process; if a teacher saw a student coming to school in the fall or winter with flip flops, they noted it to ensure they get proper winter shoes. If a social worker visited a house that was missing furniture, they are making sure they get a couch.

While there are toys, most of the gifts are necessities, including warm jackets, backpacks with school supplies, and even heating units and refrigerators for families. The photos below only capture some of it.

Between now and Christmas Eve the team goes out themselves (sans sleigh) to deliver these gifts to families.

College Achieve Asbury’s efforts throughout 2020 to meet students’ food, academic and mental health needs have paid off. More than 94 percent of students attend school daily (either in person or virtually) and internal assessments show that students are growing academically--bucking the national trend of declines in learning.