Remington The Elf and Adopt A Family
How at 12 year old boy inspires others to help families in need at Christmas
There isn’t a time that Candi Kuck can remember when she wasn’t aware of or participating in the Angel Tree program offered by The Salvation Army at Christmas time. Each year, The Salvation Army Angel Tree program provides individuals and families the opportunity to buy gifts for a specific child who is in need of Christmas presents. The Kuck family; Chad, Candi and their young son, Remington sponsored an Angel Tree tag every year. The Kucks involved Remington in helping to pick out the presents for the sponsored child. He thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
During a difficult time in their lives, Candi had to break the unfortunate news to Remington that they wouldn’t be able to sponsor a child that year. Because Remington had grown so fond of participating with his mom and dad in shopping and picking out the Angel Tree toys, he became completely disheartened in hearing this news. Candi said he was determined to find a way to not only supply gifts for a child but for a whole family. Keep in mind he was the tender age of seven.
The following year, Remington kept his word and decided he would find out about how to sponsor an entire family and figure out a way to pay for all of the gifts himself. He and his mom got in contact with The Salvation Army again, as The Salvation Army also has an Adopt-A-Family program sponsoring entire families' gifts for Christmas. He started with the idea of raising money by having a raffle with prizes. Then he experimented with an online auction on Facebook. He began repurposing old items into new and unique art pieces and selling them to raise money. He made recycling and being green part of his practice. He made crafts, paintings, and wood workings and sold these at craft fairs.
After years of streamlining a workable system, he now, at the age of 12, handles most of the Adopt-A-Family duties for his family himself, with the occasional supervision from his parents. Now using the moniker Remington the Elf, he has created quite a following in his town of Fairbanks, AK, all the way down to the “lower 48” (states). As remarkable as Remington is for his generous spirit and desiring and determining at such a young age to help families in need, he doesn’t like praise for it. He just wants to challenge others to do the same and find a way to give to others needing a helping hand.
He is continuing in his work this year, making a special craft item which he will again sell at the craft fairs in Fairbanks. Typically, in years past, he has raised thousands of dollars and used all of it on toys, gifts, and gift cards for his selected family. Major Shevaun Malone of the The Salvation Army Fairbanks Corps calls him and his family “a wonderful blessing.”
If you would like to follow in Remington the Elf’s footsteps and learn more about The Salvation Army’s Adopt-A-Family program, please visit our website at alaska.salvationarmy.org