After the efforts of two local mothers helped a family in need, the 12 days of Christmas may no longer be associated with a song, but rather community and charity.

Full-time bloggers Jennifer Fischer and Theresa Yagiela met after Fischer recognized a photo in Yagiela’s blog as taking place at a local Santa Clarita park. The two moms had been looking for a way to give back and decided to join forces.

“Theresa was trying to work with other bloggers to help this family that has four kids and a father with leukemia,” Fischer said. “(The family) lives in Santa Clarita, both parents were teachers that got laid off, and now they’re really struggling to raise a family and make it work.”

The women decided on the “12 Days of Christmas” as a theme and began reaching out to their community to donate presents, financial aid and other basic needs to the Ritter family, which has twin boys, 2 years old, a 5- and an 8-year-old.

“We came up with something to do for each day – for pears in a pear tree I made a tree of pears and ‘Angry Birds’ card games,” Fischer said.

They had a goal of raising $8,000 to pay for Scott Ritters’ treatment, which the bloggers managed to reach after a generous donor gave $7,655 after reading an SCV News news article about their intentions.

Scott will be in the hospital for treatment during the holiday season, and is waiting to find out if his children will be able to visit him in the hospital on Christmas, but hard times haven’t affected the Ritter family’s love for their community, Yagiela said.

“The family is very warm and caring to everyone else — it’s very difficult for them to need help from anyone else,” she said.