Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
Available On Air Stations
Watch Live

Local

Del Mar woman hopes to give Liberian children a Christmas to remember

Lisa St. John is a real-life Santa Claus. She’s aiming to raise $4,000 to buy Christmas presents for around 200 students at a Liberian school.

There will be no iPhones or Xboxes on their Christmas lists though, just everyday items we take for granted.

“What these children get for Christmas is not what we’re accustomed to," St. John said. “They don’t receive a wrapped toy. It’s used clothes in a trash bag. Last year was the first time these kids had gotten anything for Christmas in their whole life”.

Advertisement

St. John’s passion for helping underprivileged kids from Liberia started in 2018, when she fostered an 8-year-old boy named Obediah for seven months. He needed a family to stay with while he received medical treatment at Rady Children’s Hospital for a facial tumor.

“When I learned of him, he had a large malformation on his face,” St. John said. “His whole life he’d lived in this very, very poor country, where he was treated with witch doctors, and suffered a lot of bullying because of his appearance. But he was so smart — he is so smart and talented and funny, and I think he got through all of that because of his sense of humor”.

Obediah and his siblings outside their school in Grand Cape Mount County, Liberia, in this undated photo.
Courtesy of Liberia Perseverance Foundation
Obediah and his siblings outside their school in Grand Cape Mount County, Liberia, in this undated photo.

Obediah’s now living back in Liberia after completing his medical treatment in the U.S. But St. John wanted to do more, so she formed the Liberian Perseverance Foundation.

The nonprofit has raised enough money to send Obediah and his siblings to a modest boarding school, where they receive an education, regular meals and beds to sleep in. All things they didn’t have before. The foundation also bought the school a gas stove and provided students with essentials like food, clothing and backpacks. 

“There are hundreds of kids at this boarding school,” St. John said. “And when I say boarding school, it’s not what we have here. It’s bare bones and the education is not great, but it’s an education”.

Advertisement

St. John hopes the charity will eventually be able to raise enough cash to buy some land, so the community can grow their own food and raise livestock. For now though, her Christmas wish is for people in San Diego to donate what they can so Obediah, his siblings and friends feel a little extra love this festive season. And if you’d like to help, head to the Liberian Perseverance Foundation’s Facebook and Instagram pages.

The North County Focus newsletter is your bi-weekly guide to all the news coming from North County, plus a handpicked selection of events and trivia tidbits.