Winter holiday season spotlights realities of poverty’s impacts across the community.
As a single mother on Texas Street in Bellingham, Trudy Shuravloff would receive gifts from Toys for Tots for her children. Once she was in the position to give back to her community, she wanted to create a memorable budget-friendly holiday shopping experience for her students.
Shuravloff, executive director of The Whatcom Dream, a nonprofit that offers financial empowerment classes in Whatcom County, came up with a pop-up store she calls the Christmas Shoppe.
In the Christmas Shoppe, students and graduates of financial literacy classes can shop for brand-new toys, bicycles, electronics and gifts at a 75%–90% discount from the retail price. Most donations come from Bellingham residents and local churches, but Dewey Griffin Subaru in Bellingham makes a large business contribution to the Christmas Shoppe…