December 9, 2004

Almaden children begin a trend of giving and thoughtfulness

Kids with birthdays near the holidays donate their presents

By Sheila Sanchez
Staff Writer

Last Saturday 6-year-old Samantha Satalino loaded all her birthday gifts into her mom’s Suburban to be dropped off at the Santa Clara County Children’s Shelter.

Six-year-old Samantha Satalino, a kindergarten student at Holy Spirit School, donated all her birthday presents last Saturday to the Santa Clara County Children’s Shelter.

On Halloween, 6-year-old Savannah Boettcher, born Nov. 4, gave all her birthday presents to a children’s orphanage in Mexico.

The children are among a small group of kids in Almaden Valley who have began a trend of turning over their birthday loot to more worthy causes, especially as their birthdays fall on or close to the festive 12th month of the year.

Their good will gesture, however, didn’t come without a little coaxing from their generous and thoughtful parents who encouraged them to give their goodies away as more would come on Dec. 25, when Christmas would be celebrated.

“Anyone who has a child so close to Christmas knows that the presents can be overwhelming, especially if your child wants a large party,” said Samantha’s mother, Shanna, with a pile of about 50 unwrapped gifts as her backdrop at San Jose Skate on Blossom Hill Road.

After Shanna discussed the idea with her daughter, she decided to give them away to the “kids at the place where the character Annie lives.”

The 35-year-old mother sent her daughter’s birthday invitations with a note enclosed alerting guests to bring their presents unwrapped with the option of attaching a Christmas card where they could sign their first name. Boys were encouraged to bring gifts for boys and girls were encouraged to bring gifts for girls.

The dilemma of wanting a large party began in October when Samantha wanted to invite all her kindergarten and first-grade friends. Shanna told her that would be too many children.

Watching the movie “Annie” about the story of an orphan searching for a family who is raised in an orphanage, Shanna suggested that instead of keeping all the birthday gifts her daughter donate them to the local children’s shelter.

At first, Shanna said, Samantha was a little reluctant, but later agreed after watching the movie “American Girl,” where a child named Samantha befriends an orphan girl named Nellie.

Shanna told Samantha she could keep the presents given to her from family members, but that she could invite as many children as she wanted with the condition that all their offerings would be given to the shelter.

Samantha’s remarkable act of kindness earned her the blessings of extra gifts from her friends, whose parents were so touched by the idea that they brought one gift for the birthday girl and one gift for the shelter.

“My kids have so much. They’re spoiled rotten. I just want to show her that there are other kids who don’t have all they things that they have,” said Shanna. “Her birthday is within weeks of Christmas and it’s overwhelming.”

The Satalinos are determined to make their idea a yearly family tradition in December.

Jane Boettcher, whose daughter had a similar party in October, believes parents of November and December babies, whose children are willing to donate their gifts to the needy, are setting a precedent in the valley.

“They’re (parents) excited about what we’re doing but they’re also thinking, ‘Wow, maybe we need to do the same thing,’ ” said Boettcher. “There are too many toys at our house. They already have too much. The presents they get are not necessarily the things that they like. We knew that we needed to give them away.”

Boettcher said her daughter also initially wasn’t willing to give up her presents. To help her understand the importance of what she wanted her to do she would bring up the donation continually. She then suggested buying her six presents for every year of her life at a local toy store on the condition she relinquished her giveaways to the orphanage in Mexico.

“I hate to say it, but it was a bribe,” Boettcher said. “It has been a good experience for her to understand the importance of giving to poor children. It’s really opened her eyes to other children in the world who don’t have Christmas.”

Last week, however, Savannah seemed convinced that her mother’s idea was the greatest thing in the world.

“Some moms and dads don’t have money for their kids. People can give stuff away and that’s their birthday present,” she said. “I kept some presents, but gave some away.”

Attending Holy Spirit School has also helped Samantha and Savannah learn about the importance of sharing their blessings with the less fortunate. “They’re always working on collecting diapers for babies and other community outreach projects,” Shanna said. “We thought this could be something she could do individually to teach her about giving back.”

Shanna’s upbringing also contributed to teaching her daughter to appreciate her family’s abundance and awareness of the poor. Growing up in Costa Mesa, Calif., Shanna said her family lived “paycheck to paycheck,” with one Christmas receiving only one humble gift that was treasured and loved. “I do remember being upset when all my friends got everything they wanted. My dad was in the military. He was gone a lot of our Christmases.

There were times when we barely made it,” Shanna said.

Parent Noel Charitat, born Dec. 17, a so-called “December baby,” praised her friends for their idea. “It’s really great that they’ve decided to donate the presents. We had a little extra incentive to come to Samantha’s birthday knowing that the toys were going to a good cause.”

John Winchester, a parent invitee, also thought Samantha’s party was a wonderful lesson for the children. “It’s a wonderful opportunity to teach the kids what the season means. It’s a terrific idea particularly at this time of the year. We want the kids to understand the spirit of giving.”