“This is my family’s third year receiving gifts from Jeremy’s Tree. We started when my son was in day care at the Y. He is now 7 and I have a 1-year-old daughter. This year, since the pandemic, we are in the same boat as we were the first year. We have to pay the rent and utilities and we don’t have money left over for gifts. That first year, I received an email about Jeremy’s Tree and I was surprised since my family had just started going to the Y. I was embarrassed to ask for help but when I got the email, I felt happy knowing that people who don’t even know us very well wanted to help us. Then last year, with the pandemic, we were only on one income. Jeremy’s Tree has truly been a blessing. Without it, I don’t think my kids would receive Christmas gifts. The baby doesn’t realize it yet, but my older son would know if he didn’t get gifts on Christmas. I want to say thank you to everyone who participates in Jeremy’s Tree. We are blessed because of it. I really feel like we are part of the YMCA family and are grateful there are people who help families like mine.”