Single mother-of-five Veronica Bucio tried not to cry in front of her children when she told them they weren’t going to have any Christmas presents a few years ago.

Her oldest son, who attended Rainier View Elementary at the time, took the news the hardest.

“It was hard for me and I still remember his face because he was just crying and I tried to not cry in front of him,” recalled Bucio, who speaks English as a second language and worked as a cook at a retirement home in Federal Way at the time. “Sometimes I have to not show my feelings to them even though I can’t pay it.”

Bucio said she struggled to survive, trying to cover one expense with another every month.

“As a single mom, I tried to explain to him we don’t have anything to eat either, but we have a house,” said Bucio, who is now a stay-at-home mom and cares for her 3-year-old. “It’s heartbreaking because, like any mom, my son wants new shoes and I can’t afford it, so family members give me some.”

When her son went to school the next day after his mother relayed the bad Christmas news, his teacher noticed he was crying and asked him what was wrong.

“He said, ‘We don’t have any money for Christmas.’”

That’s when Bucio was introduced to the Federal Way Police Department and Grace Church’s Adopt-A-Family program. This year, the church and police department partnered with nine organizations to form a community coalition called Federal Way Cares for Kids, which coordinates the resources and skills of those organizations to support Federal Way students.

On Saturday, approximately 300 volunteers with Federal Way Cares for Kids helped 300 families such as Bucio’s pick out free holiday gifts from donated items sprawled on tables at Lakota Middle School. Personal shoppers helped families select toys and gift cards for their kids, while their youngsters made crafts in a separate area with volunteers. Families also got to take their photo with Santa, enjoyed free Christmas goodies while listening to holiday music and each family received a free Christmas ham.

Bucio, who selected gift cards for her older children and toys for her youngest, said Federal Way Cares for Kids made it possible for her children to have Christmas presents this year.

“To me, it’s when I remember that there’s God right there and we are blessed that someone forgot about his own stuff and is thinking about other ones,” she said. “All these years I’ve been blessed with gifts for my kids, especially when I can see their face when they open their presents, they are happy … to see they are excited about opening something and not just have empty hands.”

She thanked all the volunteers who made the effort possible.

The event served approximately 1,000 of the neediest students from each school in Federal Way Public Schools. School counselors provided those students’ contact information to the organization.

Jon McIntosh, the lead pastor at Grace Church, said Superintendent Tammy Campbell “stepped up huge” for this event. The school district gave the organization space in the district’s Student Support Services Department to store all of the gifts and also stored all the hams in district freezers. In addition, the school district provided security personnel during the event on Saturday.

Other organization’s that stepped up and are part of the Federal Way Cares for Kids coalition include South King Fire and Rescue, St. Francis Hospital, the city of Federal Way, Alaska Airlines, Communities in Schools, Life and Health Chiropractic, Multi-Service Center and Heritage Bank.

Riddell Williams was also a significant sponsor of the event.

The coalition also hopes to rally around school supplies for students this fall.

McIntosh got emotional when he talked about the synergy at the event, as he watched so many volunteers come together around a common goal.

“I think it is the hope it brings to families who are struggling to know that they are not alone — that there are men and women in our community who care about them and want them to thrive.”

For more information, visit www.fwcaresforkids.org.

Photos by Carrie Rodriguez, the Mirror; and courtesy of Bruce Honda.