People Amaze Me

In October I mentioned how the organization I work for provides gifts for our participants. It truly is a wonderful program.

This year we were very concerned if we would be able to provide for all of the families. The economy has not been that wonderful. In Florida, the bottom has dropped out of the housing market. People are loosing their homes to foreclosure on a daily basis. Realtors are having to go to work at retail or fast food establishments just to provide for their families.

We had 65 mothers sign up for our Adopt-A-Family program. They completed the Wish Lists and we sent them to the individuals, companies, organizations who wanted to help.

We would be thrilled if 1 or 2 of the items on the children's lists could be provided. The gifts started coming in this last week...

This is the hallway...

Here is one families gifts in a co-workers office

These are gifts waiting to be distributed ...

People have, again, gone above and beyond. Just yesterday, we had a mother, father and 6 year old boy stop in the office looking for a voucher to purchase clothing at our Thrift Store. They are homeless and living in a tent nearby. Besides the voucher we gave them boxes of food and we were able to provide some Christmas gifts for the little boy.

We are receiving calls every day from parents desperate to provide something for their children for Christmas. Thanks to our wonderful community we are able to do that!!

Every toy will be out of this building by Christmas Eve. What we do not distribute will go to local churches, Guardian ad Lidem program, food pantries, any organization that provides services to the less fortunate.

Halloween is Over!

Which means that the Holidays are just around the corner! Woo Hoo! Which also means you guys can all quit complaining about my Christmas Tree countdown on my sidebar! Look only 53 days til Christmas!!

I love this time of year. Even here in Florida. While my daughter is over there whining about no snow, to me it doesn't matter whether it is icy and cold, it is the feeling, the closeness, that only seems to come around this time of year.

Why is that? Why is it only this time of year are people feeling generous? Why not in July when food banks are out of food, or soup kitchens are short volunteers to help serve?

We do an Adopt-A-Family Program, where I work. Our program participants complete a Wish List. One for each child and one for the parent (usually a mom). We then find local residents, companies, other organizations who "adopt" the family and buy the items on the list. Including wrapping paper, bows, ribbon, etc. We even have one individual who purchases a holiday meal for every single family in our programs. (35 at this time) All the items are then brought into our Administration office.

The unwrapped gifts are given to the family. Mom gets to wrap the gifts for the children. This way they are from her and she knows what they are. The children wrap the gifts for mom. We pull them aside and have a wrapping party. You should see the faces of these woman and children when they see the piles of items waiting for them. On more than one occasion we have had complete breakdowns, of both staff and participants.

All of this is done with complete confidentiality also. The people buying the gifts do not have the name of who they are buying for. All they get is the sex, age and the Wish List. Nothing more.

I am always amazed at the generosity of people for the Holidays. This place looks like North Pole Central! Tables of gifts line our halls, we have piles of gifts in our offices!

The one small item that seriously irritates me, though, is that many people do not believe teenagers should have a Christmas. We have a terrible time collecting Christmas gifts for our teenagers. People want to buy for small children, but don't they understand that teens are just as important? Teens need to feel that they are loved, accepted and wanted as much as smaller children. They also need that feeling of wonderment and warmth that is this time of year.

We began adopting out families three weeks ago. Now, you understand why I begin thinking of Christmas long before Halloween is over.