Grocery Outlet keeps Christmas magic alive

Chief Moses seventh-grader writes winning letter

MOSES LAKE — A long line of children stood anxiously waiting for Santa Claus within the Grocery Outlet Wednesday evening.

But before he could put in his appearance, store owners Paul and Kris Emerson got to give a Moses Lake family their own Christmas.

This year marked the first for the grocery store's Magical Christmas presentation. Kris Emerson said she got the idea after constant requests for donations.

"We actually helped most of those organizations with some sort of a donation, but we thought it would be a lot of fun for us just to adopt a family this Christmas, so that we actually got to see what a difference doing this would make for a family," she explained.

The store sent out a flier asking kids between the ages of 6 to 18 to submit a letter explaining why their family should be selected to receive a magical Christmas. Out of the 105 entries from area kids, a panel of six judges selected the best letter.

"My family should be chosen for the magical Christmas because we have been going through hard times," 12-year-old Alicia White, a seventh-grader at Chief Moses Middle School, wrote in her letter, explaining that mother Brandy and father Ray were both laid off from their jobs and not certain that they would be able to provide a Christmas for their family. "Winning the magical Christmas is very important to me because it will for sure put a warming Christmas spirit smile on every one of our shining faces."

White and her family received a 7-foot-tall Christmas tree, a complete Christmas dinner, gifts for everyone in their family and a $50 gift certificate.

Runners-up Eva Gamboa and Alyssa Ferguson also received $50 gift certificates.

White said she was hoping to win, but it was still a surprise.

"My parents had a talk with us one night, saying we couldn't afford some things that we've had in the other years, and that we wouldn't have as good of a Christmas," she said, adding that she spent a lot of time writing the letter after her brother brought the flier home. "It's not just our family. It's a lot of families. The kids are little and stuff, and they don't really — we know that it's not really about getting stuff, we've learned about it and everything, but they like the stuff, it makes them happy. I like to see them happy on Christmas; it's their favorite holiday, and my favorite holiday."

"I was very, very proud of her," Brandy said, noting that she did not read Alicia's letter before it was turned in, although she encouraged her daughter to turn it in, and had not read the letter before the Magical Christmas presentation Wednesday. "It helps us out, that's for sure."

"I'm proud of her and glad that we've got this opportunity, considering we're both working right now," Ray said. "It's been rough, but we're getting through it."

Emerson said White's letter was selected because she didn't ask for anything for herself, but wanted her sister Crystal, 11, and brothers Luke, 8, and Jonah, 4, to have a great Christmas.

"This was probably one of the few letters that we got that didn't say, 'Because I want this, because I want that and because I want the other thing,'" Emerson said. "This one really came more from the space we were looking for it to come from — something that was outside of her and more focused on her family and what she could do for them."