As 300 local families in need select Christmas presents for their children amid dazzling holiday lights and joyous tunes like “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” this Saturday in the Lakota Middle School gymnasium, dozens of volunteers will bustle to assist them as Santa’s helpers.

One of these elves is special.

This will mark Melissa Pederson’s third year as a personal shopper as she assists parents with making toy selections for their children. The single mother of three also walked in these parents’ shoes five years ago when she was a beneficiary of the Federal Way Cares for Kids program that organizes the annual event.

At that time, Pederson was one of 60 families in greatest need that Federal Way Public Schools identified. She was a student at Green River Community College, relying solely on school grants and loans for her income. Without the Federal Way Cares for Kids program, she wouldn’t have been able to provide her kids with Christmas presents, she told the Mirror in 2013.

“Here I am five years later and that time still impacts my family,” Pederson said of the program, noting that when her family drives past Lakota Middle School, her kids recall when they attended the event.

Pederson now holds a master’s degree in social work from the University of Washington-Tacoma and is a reengagement advisor for Federal Way Public Schools’ Open Doors program, where she works one-on-one with students who have different needs than students in traditional high schools. As she raises her children — now ages 15, 16 and 19 — she is learning to readjust to life without some of the social supports that helped her get to where she is today.

“My goal was to be self-sufficient, to take care of my kids, to not rely on food stamps — all of those things that self-sufficiency looks like,” said Pederson, who hopes to eventually continue her education and earn a PHD in social work.

When she thinks about the services she has received along the way, such as the help she received from Federal Way Cares for Kids, “being a recipient of those services makes me that much more empathetic” to other families, she said.

She enjoys volunteering for the annual event and sees it as an opportunity to connect with families who are going through similar circumstances that she went through.

“That one-on-one conversation with parents is priceless,” said Pederson, who will have a group of Open Doors students volunteering with her at the event. She added, “To me it’s humbling in that I can do the same for someone else.”

More volunteers needed

Federal Way Cares for Kids organizers said the nonprofit is still seeking more volunteers to help serve the 300 families and 1,025 kids who are expected to attend the holiday event this weekend. Shifts are available on Friday and Saturday to help set up, clean up and various other roles. Community members can see what shifts are available and register to volunteer at www.fwcaresforkids.org/volunteer.