Thirty-seven years after a family first approached her for Christmas help while she was a Camp Verde school nurse, Pat Kaminsky is still making sure local children don’t go without, through Kiwanis Club of Camp Verde’s annual Adopt-A-Family program.
That has grown into a community-wide effort that has supported as many as 130 households and spends upward of $20,000 annually on working class families, with donors providing clothing, toys and grocery gift cards to families in need.
“I worked as a school nurse, and very rarely were the kids faking,” Kaminsky said when asked if kids ever pretended to be sick to get out of class. “A lot of them would come in around 10 o’clock complaining that their stomachs hurt, and when I asked if they’d eaten, they’d say, ‘No.’ So I ended up getting food donated so I could feed the kids, and they were back in class.”
The Adopt-A-Family program operates on the same principle: Meeting basic needs so children 15 and under can simply be kids. It serves children who live in Camp Verde or attend school here. Currently, the program is helping 70 families.
“We’re usually around 100 families,” Kaminsky said. “For the last five years or so, it’s been about that number. It’s harder for families today because prices are up. Groceries are up. Rent is up. Before COVID, the highest rent I saw in Camp Verde for a family was about $800. Now it’s over $1,000 [or] even $1,400. So it’s hard. It’s harder for them.”
She emphasized that anonymity is an essential part of Adopt-A-Family, and that this is God’s program; it is just done through Pat Kaminsky.
“One year when money was tight, I had somebody call me on Christmas Eve asking for help, and I said to them, ‘I’ll see what I can do.’ I was going to go out and buy for the family, and as soon as I hung up the phone, it rang again and somebody said, ‘Is it too late for me to adopt the family?’ I think that’s the spirit of Christmas — that’s God working and helping. I’ve had other situations like that throughout this holiday, so that’s why I do it.”
In addition to Adopt-A-Family, Kaminsky volunteers with the Salvation Army, which is urgently seeking someone to coordinate bell-ringing in Sedona and Cottonwood. Interested volunteers can contact the Salvation Army Metro Phoenix office at (602) 267-4100.
I have a lot “of memories of just kids’ eyes getting so big when they see their gifts, and parents coming in and getting the help and being so appreciative and so humble,” Kaminsky said. “Because I was a nurse for 19 years and I’ve been retired now for 20, some of the people I’ve helped in the past, they’re adopting families today. They say, ‘My life is better. I want to help because you helped me.’”
Families seeking assistance or residents who want to help support Camp Verde families can call Kaminsky at (928) 301-6495, or send a check to the Kiwanis Club of Camp Verde, Adopt-A-Family program, P.O. Box 974, Camp Verde, AZ 86322.
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