Custodian Raises Money to Buy Students Christmas Gifts

According to WAFB-TV, a custodian at Justiss Elementary School in Paris, Texas, since 2008, recently raised enough money to purchase Christmas gifts for every student at the school.

“I just couldn’t give one child or two kids a present,” custodian Davis Harris, 65, told WAFB. “If I couldn’t do it for the whole school, then I didn’t want to do it.”

Earlier this week, Harris, dressed as Santa Claus, pulled a sleigh full of presents through the school to deliver 600 gifts.

His idea for the gift-giving came in response to news of a school shooting. “I was watching the news with all the trouble going on, and it just hit me. I had tears, and I just wanted to do something for my kids,” said Harris, a grandfather of three.

Renee Elmore, Justiss Elementary School principal, told WAFB that she wasn’t surprised by Harris’ gesture, but she also wasn’t sure how he was going to pull it off. “I was like, that’s great, but how are we going to afford this?” Elmore said.

Determined to raise the money, Harris solicited donations from area businesses and quickly obtained enough funds to spend US$4 on each student’s gift.

“He had almost all of the money within a couple of weeks,” Elmore said. “He had sponsors who donated $200, $300, $150 at a time. He is amazing.”

“What’s so great about it is the kids,” he said. “They went home and told their mom and dad that Mr. Harris gave everybody presents, and several kids came back to me, giving me presents.”

Now, Harris said, going forward, he’s hoping to deliver presents to students every year.