Children earn points for presents

COSTA MESA -- At 6 years old, Harvey Pleitez is a little too young to be

earning a wage, but that’s not stopping him from saving up for Christmas.

Harvey is one of 60 children in a Families Costa Mesa program that allows

them to earn points for good schoolwork, attendance and citizenship.

Those points will then be used toward gifts for their family members at

Christmastime.

Families Costa Mesa Director Leda Albright said the program is a lesson

in hard work for the children, especially during the holiday season when

the organization can be inundated with donations.

“Sometimes people are given so many things that they lose an appreciation

for what it takes to earn something,” Albright said. “We want to make it

mean something for the kids.”

The program was organized by Dave Lewis, a program assistant who used to

work with homeless children at the Orange Coast Interfaith Shelter. Lewis

was never able to implement the program at the shelter because children

there were always coming in and out of the facility.

The program at Families Costa Mesa makes sense for the children there

because the kids who come to the center are sometimes from low-income

households and can’t purchase gifts for family members on their own.

Brianna Valencia, 8, said this will be the first time she’s been able to

buy gifts for her family.

“I didn’t buy anything for them last year because I didn’t have enough

money,” she said.

Lewis said he didn’t want to just hand the children gifts. Rather, the

program teaches children responsibility and real-world lessons such as

budgeting.

The children, who are in the first through ninth grades, began submitting

reports last Friday. The weekly reports from the children’s teachers help

Lewis monitor how they are doing in school on their homework, citizenship

and attendance.

The children can earn a maximum of 36 points through December. The points

will be exchanged for toys or household appliances for family members.

Harvey said he already is imagining what he will give his family for

Christmas: a hat for his baby sister, a button-down shirt for his father

and pajamas for his mother. If he has points left over, maybe he’ll buy

two or three presents for himself, he said.

The program already has him motivated to do well in school, said Harvey’s

mother, Blanca Pleitez.

“My son comes home and says ‘I was good today so I’m going to earn

points,”’ she said.