A Wimberley Christmas Miracle

As Christmas time approaches in the Wimberley Valley, many families are gathering together to celebrate the holidays with their loved ones.

But this time of year can be stressful for a handful of families who can’t afford to buy presents for their loved ones due to circumstances out of their control.

There are multiple organizations that try to fill the gap like the Wimberley Gold Santa program or the Hays County Sheriff’s Brown Santa. This year, Wimberley Good Neighbor fit into the fold.

As a whole, Wimberley Good Neighbor is a nonprofit organization that helps families in need as WGN president Ava Braslau explained.

“Most of the people we help have something unexpected happen in their lives that changes everything for them” Braslau said.

“They’ve had a huge medical expense, or a sudden divorce without financial support. We share their story with the community and give neighbors a tax-deductible donation to help the family. We also help people directly through grant support. As the case manager, I take asking for community support very seriously and vet clients, checking references and completing a light background check. This serves the purpose of verification that the client actually needs the help and confirms how the money will be used. We don’t have expensive administrative costs, building rent or salaries, so all the donations go directly to our neighbors.”

Established in 2020, WGN organized the Adopt-A-Family program, which helps families buy Christmas gifts they cannot afford.

“The board approved the holiday Adopt-A-Family program after several donors mentioned they would like to help locals who need support for Christmas,” Braslau said.

“We reached out to WISD teachers and others in the community, and they passed out our application to families who were in the greatest need. Our Adopt-A-Family program made it possible for families in need to get the exact items that their children wanted. Items that they would never be able to afford in their current circumstances. They created wish lists of three toys/ fun things and three needs such as clothing or blankets for each child. They chose the exact things they knew that their children wanted and sent it to us. Then community members were able to shop for each family, and ship it to us at Mail Stop.”

This program ended up catching the attention of Paul and Helen Dunn.

“We saw that Wimberley Good Neighbors had posted on the Wimberley Community Forum on Facebook a few weeks ago,” Paul Dunn said. “That is how we got to know Wimberley Good Neighbors.”

“They (WGN) had posted that there were a couple of families looking for bikes for their kids, “ Paul Dunn said.

“Helen and I were sitting and visiting one night, and we saw this and thought it would be great for the children to have bikes because kids need bikes right? So let’s help some young kids out and get them some bikes.”

However, in the process of purchasing the bike, there was a mistake.

“When we were checking in and sorting gifts, ‘’ Braslau said. “We realized that they (the Dunns) had made an error and donated two bikes to one child. The child belonged to a family who was in great need. The parents lost work during the pandemic, and the mom had huge medical expenses.”

Brasulau and Helen then communicated on what to do next.

“It was through messenger that we found out we had ordered two of the same bike for the one family,” Helen Dunn said.

“We thought we were ordering for a couple of families. She (Braslau) had said she was hoping we were able to add for the older daughter and she wanted us to take the one bike back. We (the Dunns) said ‘No, why don’t we just find another family that would like that extra bike?’”

Then something funny happened.

“At the last minute, before the Dunns’ mistake,” Braslau said “The family had called us and wondered if their other little girl, who was older, could also ask for a bike. Their wish list had been finished and posted on our website, and we told them it was too late”

Now the plan was set.

The mis-ordered extra bike was donated to another family while the Dunn’s bought another bike for the older sibling to have.

“It was miraculous,” Braslau said. “Their error and then wonderful generosity turned into joy for three children and illuminated the spirit of the season! After only planning to purchase one bike, the Dunns ended up buying three! The other family who got the wrong bike was overjoyed and not expecting it. The parents who were able to get both bikes for their kids thought it was a Christmas miracle!”

For both of the Dunns, it was rewarding to be able to give back to the community.

“It is very heartwarming to be able to give back to people,” Helen Dunn said. “Especially at this time of year when families have been struggling for the past couple of years due to COVID. For me, we love giving back to our community and wanting to be a part of it. I’m just happy that we made three children very happy this time of year”

“For me Wimberley is home,” Paul Dunn said. “Being able to help the Wimberley Good Neighbor folks out was important for me to do that and have the impact of helping local families out. It was really nice to see our community come together.”

But the Dunns were not the only ones who were able to pull off a Christmas miracle. There were 12 families who participated in the Adopt-A-Family program this year.

“Another wonderful story that stands out for me is about a couple who adopted a family and discovered that the family’s son was still sleeping in a crib,” Braslau said. “The family couldn’t afford a new bed for him. The adopter family purchased everything on the wish list for their two children, plus a twin size bed, with a beautiful headboard, mattress, and sheets.”

Because of the miracle work dones, Braslau truly believes that the Christmas spirit is alive and well in the Wimberley Valley.

“With the community donating over 200 gifts to local families and our donations through supporting grants,” Braslau said. “It’s true that the Christmas spirit is alive and well in Wimberley!”