It all started with helping one student. In the past 30 years, several hundred families have been helped by the Chestnut Ridge Secret Santa Program.
In her first year of teaching family and consumer sciences in 1989, Kim Budnick had a student who needed a little extra help, and it inspired her to do the same for families within the district.
âI was the new kid on the block, low man on the totem pole. As we approached Christmas, I noticed one of my students, a young girl, who obviously had needs. . She was being bullied by the other kids for the deplorable clothes that she was wearing and she just didnât have. She didnât â¦. She kind of revented into herself.â