- December 16, 2025
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Consumers are feeling the pinch this holiday season, and that's especially true when you are shopping for thousands of kids.
Holiday House SRQ is a nonprofit dedicated to providing a holiday-themed shopping experience for students at underserved schools.
However, President Sepi Ackerman, who co-founded the organization with Jenny Infanti in 2021, said despite challenges amid rising costs for gifts and related materials, the organization is continuing to push forward.
She said it will continue to develop its board, and will consider adding a sixth school, in line with its growth model of one per year.
In 2024, Holiday House served Alta Vista, Emma E. Booker, Wilkinson and Brentwood elementary schools, and this year, it added Gocio Elementary School.
From Dec. 8-10, it provided the annual shopping experiences, welcoming kids who had smiles on their faces as they browsed tables and chose gifts in environments transformed with holiday decor.
The organization currently serves about 2,500 students, and a new school brings about 500 additional kids.
During the personalized shopping experiences, provided free of cost, students can choose five gifts for their loved ones, plus one for themselves.
Kids enter a waiting room, where they receive a bag to decorate and snacks prepared specially for them. Then, they enter a room transformed with holiday decor, where volunteers lead them one-on-one, helping them to select presents.
After that, kids decorate their bags further, enjoy their snacks, and then head off to their classrooms to wrap the gifts.
"This offering means so much for the kids at the school here and their families because what it does is it levels the playing field," said Susan Nations, principal at Wilkinson Elementary. "It allows them to pick out gifts, especially for family, even their pets, and they can bring those home with some dignity and be part of their holiday traditions in their home, so it really helps them to just feel like, 'Wow, I get to do something to contribute to the holiday season with my family in my home."
The first school the organization approached was Emma E. Booker Elementary, which asked if it could offer the experience. Within 24 hours of making a request, Holiday House had raised the needed funds.
However, costs have changed over time.
Last year, the cost of a Holiday House at one school was approximately $10,000. This year, it has risen to $15,000.
This year, the organization was able to cover an existing school for $10,000, although that was due to the leftover inventory from last year, Ackerman said, while moving forward, all schools will cost about $15,000.
As one of five board members responsible for shopping for the presents, she says the price of everything from tissue paper to gift bags, is increasing. (The shopping is performed solely by board members to ensure the right balance of items.)
Furthermore, every time they add a school, there is more fundraising needed, and more volunteers needed.
The organization is supported by a network of about 250 volunteers, as well as community partners, most notably Gulf Coast Community Foundation and Community Foundation of Sarasota County.
"Everybody knows inflation has been an issue, so … the grants that we've been getting from the foundations, they've covered our expenses," she said.
Even with those challenges, the organization's offerings haven't been limited to the shopping experiences themselves.
This year, it has been able to perform uniform closet restocks for some of its schools, Ackerman said, and is paying off lunch fines for Emma E. Booker and Alta Vista elementary schools.
Ackerman said it was also assessing its ability to meet other needs in the community, like after-school needs noted by one school.
Superintendent of Schools Terry Connor said the nonprofit's role involves not only bringing light to the students during the holidays, a time that can bring high emotions, but also adding to the academic side as well.
"It's instilling in those students something bigger than just themselves, even at a very young age," he said. "It's not all about me, it's about thinking about others, and so that can translate very positively in the classroom when we talk about sharing of materials or working in groups. These skills are vital and transferable, and we're very thankful that we have such a great community partner like Holiday House that can bring joy into the holiday spirit, as well as help us and support us from the academic standpoint."
Ackerman says despite current challenges, she's made up her mind to keep moving forward.
"Every organization always has obstacles," she said. "It's a matter of, do you tackle them and do you let those stop you, or do continue to persevere? We're going to continue to persevere. We're going to keep going."
