News

This year, the true spirit of Christmas lived on through one local family and his employer.

This Christmas, the Machado family did not wake up to a plethora of gifts under the tree. Instead, they decided to forgo gift giving to help others. They passed on the bulk of their Christmas budget to Dane Electric. Each year, Dane Electric works with a local school to sponsor families in need during Christmas. The do this through generous donations from their electricians in the field and match the amount that is raised. Alfred Machado works for Dane Electric and has three kids, Aydin, 12, Dylani, 10 and Adyson, 7 with his wife, Dana.

When asked why they decided to opt-out this year, Alfred said that he and his wife wanted their kids to recognize others’ situations and see the world outside of themselves. The agreed that they wanted to help other kids have the same kind of Christmas they get to experience.

In fact, this year’s decision was primarily a kid-driven choice. Alfred said that the idea originally sparked when he took his daughter, Dylani, downtown where she saw people sleeping under the underpass. She said, “When I saw people sleeping under the bridge I just thought, someday I’m going to help change that.”

Since that moment, the Machado family has considered different ways they could give back each holiday season. They discussed serving at a soup kitchen or donating to other organizations. Alfred then remembered that his employer, Dane Electric, does an annual holiday collection and would match their contribution. The Machado family decided that was the best avenue to take.

This year, Dane Electric partnered with a different school than in years past to help provide a new projector screen and walkie talkies for the staff. This is different than previous years because of the late switch, but they will be back to their normal tradition next year. Dane Electric is proud to have a generous staff who are willing to monetarily donate like the Machado family.