School staff member saves Christmas for students with help from social media
A school administrator in Texas went out of her way to save Christmas for hundreds of students whose holiday season may otherwise have been imperiled.
Kyle Murphy, Ph.D., a testing coordinator and data analyst with Fort Worth Independent School District, took action earlier this year when she realized her elementary school's Christmas tradition of purchasing gifts for the students was in jeopardy.
"I love the students," Murphy said in an interview with "Good Morning America" that aired Tuesday, noting that she works with a student body of roughly 400 students, a vast majority of whom are economically disadvantaged.
"Some students don't have any gifts at home for Christmas, and so our [Parent Teacher Organization] has historically purchased a gift for every student," Murphy explained. "We were sitting down in a meeting and realized we didn't have the funds to continue this tradition -- and I wasn't gonna let that happen."
In an attempt to make sure no student was left without a present this year, Murphy posted a message on her TikTok account, asking for help.
"I've got 55 days to come up with 400 Christmas presents, so each one of my 400 students at the elementary school I work with have a gift to take home to put under their Christmas tree," she said in a video shared Oct. 21.
"For some of our students, this Christmas gift may be the only thing that they have under their tree for Christmas morning," she continued, before adding, "Let's get the ball rolling so we can have a merry Christmas for all of our students."
That call for help was quickly answered, according to Murphy, who had created an Amazon wish list for the students that ended up being fulfilled in its entirety.
"Four hundred gifts were funded within 48 hours," she said.
Murphy said among the donations she received was $1.80 over Cash App, from a high school student who said they wanted to donate what they could.
Murphy's home subsequently became Santa's workshop, with videos showing Murphy and her family organizing boxes, hauling mountains of gifts to the school, and getting everything set up for a memorable school holiday celebration.
Murphy said she hopes the gifts demonstrate for her students that "no matter their circumstance, like there are people out there that care for them, that don't even know them, and that love them."
"I think we saved Christmas and then some," she said in a separate interview with Will Ganss on "GMA."
Murphy said each student received a toy, a weighted stuffed animal and a stocking, the last of which were assembled by a "19-year-old girl who wanted to make goody bags for my kids" and fundraised and put together each stocking by hand with her co-workers, according to a Dec. 12 TikTok post.
She added, "We were also able to spoil our teachers a little bit."
"It's been wonderful seeing all the kids excited and happy, and I just loved seeing all that," Murphy's daughter Everly said in an interview with "GMA" on Tuesday.
To recognize Murphy and her family's holiday generosity, Ganss shared with the mother and daughter a gift of a Disney Cruise Line vacation aboard the Disney Magic.
Disney is the parent company of ABC News and "Good Morning America."
