The initiative aims to bring Christmas cheer, along with goods, services or monetary gifts, to a deserving family in Saipan. It was created by construction and real estate development company Pacific Rim, in media partnership with KZMI 103.9FM and Marianas Variety, and in collaboration with non-profit Empty Vessel Ministry Foundation.
More than 120 nominations have been submitted to date.
“We have received many nominations, which tells us that there are a lot of community members and local families in need of support,” said Keith Stewart, Pacific Rim president and founder of “A Christmas Surprise on Saipan.”
The initiative plans to help one local family who has experienced hardship and could use some Christmas cheer during the holiday season.
“The goal of this program is to identify and help a family through a challenging time in their lives. Unlike other programs that provide smaller support to many families, this program is set up to attempt to solve a problem for a family to give them essentially a new start based on their biggest needs,” Stewart said.
Community members are encouraged to submit nominations at ChristmasSurprise.org. The executive committee who will be reviewing the nominations encourages those who are writing nominations to include as many details about the families as possible.
“We are really seeking a deserving family that is going through challenges that they may not be able to get through without the support of our team,” Stewart said. “The person nominating should plan to write an essay from the heart that explains why they believe the family is most deserving of winning the Christmas Surprise and detail what they need support for or what type of hardships they’re going through.”
Stewart said that the committee knows there will be many powerful stories, but they believe they will find one that really grabs at the hearts of the selection committee.
After the nomination period closes, the selection committee will convene to review the nominations, connect with the nominators if more information is needed and narrow down the nominations before ultimately selecting the winning family. The winning family will be surprised sometime the week before Christmas.
The program has been made possible thanks to generous donations from individuals and businesses.
“In spite of all the challenges going on, the outpouring of support from our sponsors has been tremendous. This means that we’ll really be able to help a deserving family through a challenging period of their lives, with the goal of getting them through it,” Stewart said.
So far, more than $35,000 of monetary and/or in-kind donations has been given to the initiative to help support the chosen family.
Those interested in sponsoring can donate on the secure website ChristmasSurprise.org or by contacting Pacific Rim at 670-588-7746. Program sponsors are listed online.
For more information and program details, please visit https://www.christmassurprise.org/ and follow on social media at facebook.com/CNMIChristmasSurprise
