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The 'Christmas Convoy' delivers more than presents to immigrant families in need

Aaron Erskine and Grace McCaffery after delivering bikes and toys to a family on a recent Christmas Eve.
Courtesy photo
Aaron Erskine and Grace McCaffery after delivering bikes and toys to a family on a recent Christmas Eve.

Every Christmas Eve, for the past four years, Aaron Erskine has gone from house to house delivering gifts to immigrant families in the local area.

The tradition started with Grace McCaffery, owner of the Spanish-language newspaper, La Costa Latina, who partnered with Truth for Youth founder Rev. John Powell to collect toys and bikes for kids in the Escambia County area.

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“It's important to take care of this group,” said Erskine. “The people we were giving to are some of the kindest, hardest working, loving people in our community.”

Deliveries start the morning of Christmas Eve and typically go well into the late evening. Both Erskine and McCaffery load up their cars and hitch trailers filled with presents. Last year, they had boxes of donated tortillas alongside the usual presents.

Erskine calls it a “convoy with Christmas presents.” He credits McCaffrey with handling the logistics.

Christmas convoy
Courtesy photo
Christmas convoy
Volunteers bag up toys to deliver.
Courtesy photo
Volunteers bag up toys to deliver.

“I think the benefit with Grace owning a newspaper is she knows how to do a paper route and that's a true gift for delivering presents all over the neighborhood,” he said.

A Christmas surprise

McCaffrey identifies the families in need. Erskine said he's not sure how many people may be served since multiple families may live at one residence. But he knows it takes about 12 hours or more each year to finish deliveries.

Christmas Eve 2022 was the coldest he could remember when the temperature dropped to 20 degrees — the type of cold that “made your bones ache,” Erskine described it. One of the last stops on that year’s route is one that stays with him.

Christmas tamales
Courtesy photo
Christmas tamales

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“There was a family, a swaddling infant, toddler, and young children,” he said. “And in this home, there were three families. They almost had dirt floors. (They) had no type of heat; they had no food.”

McCaffrey and Erskine went out in the middle of the night in search of heaters, which they found and brought to the family along with groceries and blankets.

This was one of the years Erskine brought along his son, Matthew. He felt guilty keeping his son out late and missing traditions at home.

But his son surprised him.

“I thought, ‘Man, I'm really messing up my son Matthew's Christmas Eve,’” said Erskine. “Keeping him out ‘till, I think it was, 2 a.m. before we got done. But what surprised me is, on the way home, Matthew said, ‘Dad, this is the best Christmas Eve I've ever had.’”

'The American Dream'

The families that are served all have unique stories. Erskine said he’s often struck by their generosity.

Christmas punch
Courtesy photo
Christmas punch

“People would come out and they would have homemade tamales or they would have a Christmas punch or something,” he said. “They have very little money, but they were sharing with us out of the little that they had. And that's something that really stuck out.”

Another thing that sticks out to Erskine is how grateful the people he meets are. One gentleman he recalls worked at a local hospital in the cafeteria.

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“He has no car, no transportation,” Erskine recalled. “And I remember he basically walks an hour to get to the bus stop and he takes the bus to the hospital. And the pride that he has, (saying) ‘I'm working in the cafeteria’ … the appreciation for having the opportunity to be here in the community and, I guess, kind of have the American Dream.”

Florida has enacted some of the strictest immigration laws in recent years including SB 1718. The law, which was enacted last year, cracked down on undocumented labor and requires hospitals that accept Medicaid to ask emergency room patients about their immigration status. Erskine said the families they typically see each Christmas are in varying stages of the immigration process. What comes next with President-elect Donald Trump’s second term, and his promise of mass deportations has left many immigrants worried about their future.

But Erskine doesn’t see politics when he goes out on Christmas Eve. He sees people.

“Seeing the love of parents and their children, I think it's the same, no matter where you were born,” he said. “Anybody who has children and loves them wants to do what's best for them. If I were in a situation where I needed to go somewhere else for my children, I think I would follow the example, too.”

Volunteers for the Christmas convoy.
Courtesy photo
Volunteers for the Christmas convoy.

Blessings

The Christmas convoy happens under the radar with little fanfare. It doesn’t get the publicity that other causes may get. That’s OK to Erskine and McCaffery.

“It's probably as close to being altruistic as you can get,” said Erskine. “We're out there going into these homes. They won't know who we are or they won't know me — they know Grace. It's truly just giving back, you know. I guess a way of saying thanks for my blessings.”

Jennie joined WUWF in 2018 as digital content producer and reporter.