Shhhhh! SoHum Elves Need a Little Secret Support to Give SoHum Kids Clothes, Educational Supplies, and Toys

Shhhhh!  Santa’s helpers who have been doing quiet work in the Southern Humboldt community for years have finally agreed to let us talk a little bit about them…but only if we don’t reveal too much.

“This isn’t about me,” explained the anonymous coordinator of a group known as the SoHum Elves. “This is about the kids.”

For many years, this quiet organization has provided Christmas presents– clothes, educational supplies, and toys to children recommended by Southern Humboldt schools.

“2013 was our first official year,” the group coordinator explained. “In 2012, our family had been doing secret Santa for family members instead of buying everyone gifts. I suggested we shop for someone in the community….I reached out to the Family Resource Center in Redway. I asked if they could help us find a family.”

One of the core tenants of keeping the donors secret began at that time. “We wanted to be anonymous,” she explained. “The Family Resource Center found a family, but the parents refused any gifts for themselves. They only wanted us to buy for their children. After trying to get the parents to let us shop for them too, they finally agreed to us buying them a microwave so when the kids came home, they could heat up food before the parents came home. That’s how the SoHum Elves were created.”

After the coordinator’s family began talking with some friends and sharing their experience, they discovered that others wanted to sponsor local kids too. “We had so many friends and family members who wanted to join our first year that we were able to help 17 kids,” she told us. “I reached out to the Family Resource Center the following year so we could do it again.”

The SoHum Elves make an incredible difference in children’s lives. “When I started this group, I knew there were low-income families in our community, but I never knew the extent of it,” the coordinator told us. “There are kids here who live in tents, who live in homes without running water, and without electricity.”

The SoHum Elves at work.

“Santa Claus has secret elves in the Southern Humboldt Schools who let the SoHum Elves know who to sponsor,” she told us. “All of our work is anonymous which makes it so much more fun! The schools in our area help me find the kids and with the parent/guardian’s approval we shop shop shop and then wrap wrap wrap! The school then coordinates with the parent/guardian to get the gifts home.”

Over the years, many heartbreaking situations have come to light. Some of those items needed were warm sleeping bags for children without power and simple health items like feminine hygiene products.

The coordinator told us that all these kids who are struggling need locals to pitch in to help. “We as a community can do more to help them,” she said firmly.

In 2014, the group helped 22 kids. In 2015, it was 37 kids. In 2016, it was 22. In 2017, they helped 15 kids plus gift bags to the Toys for Tots Foundation. In 2018, it was 17 kids. The list keeps going.

“The number of kids we sponsor depends on the number of people we have to sponsor them,” the coordinator told us. “We try to sponsor different kids each year.”

“Due to the pandemic, it was really hard last year,” the coordinator told us. “We did giving trees throughout the community instead of sponsoring individual kids.”

But that didn’t feel like it worked as well. “We are going back to helping individual children,” she said. 

And, because this year has been so hard on so many and such a large number of children need assistance, the SoHum Elves made the difficult decision to go public…Well, a little more public.

The coordinator explained that the decision to go public is not only for the kids needing help. “The pandemic turned the world upside down,” she said. “Hopefully, a chance to help kids in need will remind people that good things are happening…Whether they participate in this or something else, they can help make those good things happen. There is still a lot of good in this world.”

So, the group is cautiously opening up their quiet organization to a few more people who really want to make a difference. “If anyone is interested, we could use people to sponsor children and to help wrap gifts,” the coordinator told us. Kids can have solo sponsors or group sponsors.

One of the best outcomes of the group has been spreading the message to kids about helping other kids. “A good friend of mine got her sons involved at a young age with helping shop for the kids in need,” the coordinator told us. “Now each Christmas, her boys look forward to it. Even choosing to use some of their own money to help. This might be one of my favorite gifts to come from the SoHum Elves.”

If people want to join the group, go the SoHum Elves Facebook page. In addition, cash or Visa gift cards to be used to purchase items for the kids, can be dropped off at the Redwoods Rural Health Center medical front desk.

In keeping with the SoHum Elves’ ethos of spreading warmth, the coordinator wanted to say that though she is the spokesperson, there are many who are important in making this happen. “Lisa Henninger was my mentor when I came up with the idea and has guided me along the way,” the coordinator told us. “Her experience at the Family Resource Center was priceless. Michelle Bushnell has been our saving grace more than once even before she became Supervisor.”

In addition, the coordinator thanked the following:

The Blue Moon, The Bootleg and Gyppo Ale have been big supporters. Redway Volunteer Fire District welcomed us with open arms. Redwoods Rural Health Center has been our home since the beginning. Their support has allowed us to grow. Those who provide the lists of recipients are incredible. And the Elves, each year, they go above and beyond. I could go on for hours talking about the amazing things they have done. They are the foundation of the SoHum Elves. Words cannot express how thankful I am for each of them!