They’ve put their stamp on Utah over decades, weaving threads of economic impact, cultural influence, social change and compassion into our community tapestry. When we ski next to a double amputee, cheer at a Jazz game, enjoy cuisine prepared by a culinary-trained refugee, take in community theater, serve food at a homeless resource center, or see a 12-year-old sporting his very first pair of new shoes, there’s a good chance that Gail Miller, Lavanya Mahate, Celeste Edmunds or Meeche White were involved. Get to know these long-standing women of influence
Celeste Edmunds
Executive Director, Christmas Box International
As the Executive Director of Christmas Box International (CBI), a Salt Lake-based emergency shelter for kids, Celeste Edmunds has met thousands of children removed from unsafe homes. One young boy, however, stands out in her memory. “You could see he was carrying this enormous weight,” she says. “And when I crouched down to talk to him, he just said, ‘Nobody loves me.’”
As her own painful memories flashed in her mind, she understood him completely—she’d once believed the same thing about herself. “I wrapped my arms around him and told him, ‘I know how hard this is, I’ve been where you are.’”
When Celeste Edmunds was 7 years old, she and her siblings were taken from a home marked by drug addiction and abuse. Her temporary landing spot was improvised—hours in the back of a police car, then more hours in a caseworker’s office, then a week here and there at various relatives. Then, on to a string of foster parents.
“It’s really unsettling for a child,” Celeste says. “How do you belong in a world that doesn’t want you?”
Celeste describes her ordeal in the child welfare system in the book Garbage Bag Girl. Dropping out of school and running away to live on the streets and couch surf with friends, she dragged her scarce belongings in a garbage bag. By the time she turned 16, she’d lived in more than 32 cities.
“I know how hard this is. I’ve been where you are.”
“That’s when I met Carlie,” she says of her friend’s compassionate mom, who invited her to stay but insisted she go to school. “It was the first time someone cared enough about me to make me go to school. Carlie stuck her neck out for me and got me back on track so I could catch up and graduate.” For years, Celeste says she ‘tested’ Carlie, with a nagging fear that she would be “returned.”
But she never was—and Carlie never gave up on her. “She taught me what a home could feel like,” she says. “Just having someone tell me, ‘you still can.’ That was monumental in my life.”
Now, decades later with a family of her own, Celeste directs operations, strategy and revenue for CBI. Not only does the organization provide emergency shelter, essential items and an array of services to children and teens, it works to ensure more continuity of care and tries to keep siblings together.
“Every child deserves a childhood,” she says. To the little boy who felt unloved, Celeste’s unique understanding elicited a unique response. “I told him, ‘I know how it feels to have all these people making decisions for your life. But there will come a day when you will get to make the decisions for yourself.” After charting her course after a tragic start, Celeste is walking proof of the strength and determination that can emerge from unlikely beginnings.
Annual Impact
- Charitable donations and contributions received $1.5 million
Children served in Christmas Box Houses
- Moab Christmas Box House: 119
- Salt Lake Christmas Box House: 270
- Salt Lake Shelter Group Home: 185
- Ogden Christmas Box: 236
- IN TOTAL: 810 children were served annually
- 17,000 days of care to at-risk children in shelters
- 9,942 youth given resources
Gave Christmas to 2,647 at-risk children
Christmas Box International Projects & Programs
Christmas Box Houses
Short-term emergency shelters
Christmas Box Resource Rooms
Distributes donations such as clothing, school supplies, books, toys, hygiene and baby items.
Journey Up Program
Provides housing, employment and support for young adults facing homelessness
Project Elf
Gifts and resources are collected for at-risk children during the holidays
Discover more leaders who influence and shape life in Utah, here.
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