A Letter To Santa Can Provide A Shopping Guide

During the holiday season I try to help others as much as possible. The mothers’ group I belong to collects clothes and shoes throughout the year. At Christmas we get a list of twenty families that need help for the holidays. I believe that every child should find gifts from Santa on Christmas morning. The families on our list will get clothes for the entire family, gifts for the children in the house, and Christmas dinner.
When we receive the names of people we are to help we contact them. Our first step is to find out what they need for Christmas. We have even brought in Christmas trees to decorate homes when had to. At one house we visited the kids had never even had a Christmas tree - that about broke my heart.
All the children in each family write a letter to Santa. This way we have a real sense of what each child really wants. This will be the fourth year I have volunteered with the group. We have laughed over the funny letters to Santa and cried over the sad ones. Over the years I have kept in touch with a few of the families that I have met. Nothing is more gratifying than being able to help these parents provide Christmas for their children.
We go through all the clothes and shoes we have collected and divide them among the different families. We try our best to provide a new coat and gloves to every child. Inside the pocket of each coat each child receives a letter from Santa. Specific toy requests are usually the hardest to fill so we just do the best we can. We deliver the gifts to the parents before school is out for Christmas break. The dinner is either sent or picked up the week of Christmas.
Every member of my family has helped to make these families’ Christmas season brighter. My oldest loves to help me shop discount racks and yard sales. My sons are always ready to help when I have a heavy load to carry. I think by seeing just how lucky they are my children have gained a respect for the things they have in life. I really believe they are and always will be better people because of these experiences. I know I’m blessed to have the life I live and the least I can do is to help make another parents’ Christmas that much easier.
This Christmas when you are stressing over things being perfect at your house take a moment to look around at all you have to be thankful for. If you get a chance this year help out in whatever way you can. With the way the economy is going these days there will be plenty of families who need help with the holidays. Call churches in your area or local shelters, they will be able to lead you in the right direction.