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Community Christmas

UPDATE: Registration for 2023 Community Christmas is now closed due to overwhelming demand. We will release more information soon.

What is Community Christmas?

Community Christmas started in 2017 as a small partnership between Community ISD and First Baptist Lavon. It has since evolved into a full partnership between the District and all churches in the CISD boundaries, as well as the cities of Josephine, Nevada, and Lavon.

  • 2017 - 44 families/130 children
  • 2018 - 73 families/191 children
  • 2019 - 93 families/250 children
  • 2020 - 180 families/350 children
  • 2021 - 481 children
  • 2022 - 168 families/500 children
  • 2023 - 500 children

This includes non-student siblings (newborns to Pre-K 3). All students get a “Need”, a “Read”, and a “Want” gift - total for all three is $100. These students and their siblings are then anonymized and distributed to churches, cities, businesses, and private citizens that want to provide these gifts.

How can I sign up for Community Christmas?

Every year the school district opens up a sign-up sheet for eligible families. The first 500 students who are signed up and qualify for assistance will receive gifts this year. This year's form is available from October 23 at 8 am until October 27 at 5 pm. If 500 students are signed up before 5 pm on October 27, we will close the registration early.

Who is eligible for Community Christmas?

Free and reduced lunch applications play a large role in determining eligibility, but anyone determined by the counselors to be financially at-risk is eligible as well. Documentation of one of the following is needed to qualify for assistance: Free/Reduced breakfast/lunch, Social Security, Medicaid, Disability, WIC, Unemployment, Lone Star, or Active Military.

What is the timeline for Community Christmas?

  • Sign-up Sheet Goes Live on October 23 at 8 am.
  • Sign-up Sheet Closes on October 27 at 5 pm, or if it reaches 500 students registered before that deadline.
  • Counselors Determine Eligibility of Applications by Nov. 3.
  • CISD Staff will contact parents the week of Nov. 6-Nov. 11 to find out if they would like to participate and gather gift information for each child in the household.
  • Lists are distributed to churches and city organizations on Nov. 10.
  • Churches and City Organizations must deliver gifts to CISD gift distribution location Terry Pope Administration between 12/7 and 12/11.

  • Gifts distributed on Dec. 11 (4-6 pm), Dec. 12 (4-6 pm), and Dec. 13 (4-6 pm).

  • All gifts not picked up by December 15 will be surrendered to Community Christmas and used as gifts for families in the 2024 year.

I would like to help provide gifts for families in need. How can I participate?

If you would like to help families in need, please send us an email at info@communityisd.org, and list how many students you can provide gifts for. Ideally, you would spend $95 to $100 per student. Please only pledge the amount of students you can reasonably help. Once a student is claimed, they are your responsibility to provide for.