12 Days of Christmas, 12 days of charity

One year ago, Cristina Herrera shared a room with her two younger sisters in a crumbling house.

The 20-year-old also spent hours at the University of Texas-Pan American’s library and computer lab, waiting for her mother to pick her up in the family’s lone car — a beaten Ford Taurus. She dreamed of learning piano, unable to do so because she lacked even a small keyboard.

In 2007 an unexpected tragedy had crippled her family. Her father, Carlos, suffered a stroke and died, financially and emotionally devastating Cristina, her mother, her two younger sisters and her younger brother. They lacked a father and they lacked his income. The mother cleaned houses for about $80 a week and sold homemade tamales for $5. It wasn’t enough. They needed a miracle.

They got it last Christmas. The kindness of strangers gave the Herrera family a new life.

They are just one of more than 100 families with a similar story. For more than a decade, the 12 Days of Christmas series has helped Valley families stricken by unthinkable calamities. The Monitor and the United Way collaborate on the effort. Newspaper stories and photographs detail their plight. The Herrera family’s story appeared last year. Strangers gave them money, clothes and gifts.

On Tuesday afternoon, Cristina Herrera drove herself home from school in a charcoal 2004 Volkswagen Jetta. She walked through the door of her new home. Inside the San Juan home her sisters watched Batman Returns. She retreated to her own bedroom, where pictures of her friends and family sit atop a full-sized piano.

Herrera studies nursing at the university, cracking books and doing homework in her quiet room, which has a poster of The Beatles on the door and The Breakfast Club above the bed. The money donated by 12 Days readers gave the family a down payment for the car and a deposit for the rented home. A family gave them the piano.

“We were so grateful for everyone that read about us and helped,” said 16-year-old Carolina Herrera.

As the holidays approach the Rio Grande Valley, 12 more families await similar goodwill. This year’s series begins Dec. 6. Readers will learn about children infected with rare diseases, humble homes destroyed by fires and neighbors fighting impossible odds.

If past years are an indication, readers will also respond with unbridled generosity and kindness.

In 2006, contributions topped $64,000. Amid last year’s economic crisis, monetary donations totaled $41,756. People also brought mounds of gifts.

The wave of gifts included five televisions, 83 boxes of clothes and toys, three Christmas trees, two recliners, a stove, a refrigerator, a girl’s bike, a boy’s bike, two beds, an oak dining table with eight chairs, and one piano.

Local businesses also help each year and they have already contacted the United Way, said Thelma Garza, president of the United Way in South Texas. Workers from IBC Bank have made large contributions for the past four years and plan to continue the trend.

Dora Brown, the bank’s senior vice president, said employees volunteer to spend their off time helping 12 Days families. They drive to H.E.B., buy groceries and assemble 24 baskets for each family. They line the insides with 25-pound bags of rice, beans and materials to make tortillas. And they buy toys for the little ones.

“Our employees volunteer their lunch hour to go and wrap gifts for the kids,” Brown said. “They have found that this is one of the best ways of giving back and realizing what Christmas is about. It’s just incredible what our employees will go out there and do.”

The Herrera family knows firsthand what people are willing to do. The proof is in their new home, dependable car and often-used piano.

----------

Zack Quaintance covers features and entertainment for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4447.

The United Way always needs volunteers to sort and deliver donations for 12 Days of Christmas. If you’re interested in helping, contact the United Way at (956) 686-6331.