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Director's Corner I would like to thank everyone who helped out with the Christmas gift bags. When the Christmas workshop opened up I was really worried that we might only be able to make about 50 bags. Like most organizations, our donations were a lot less than in past years. I decided that we would put together as many bags as we could and not worry about how many. I figured every bag would be one more child that would be blessed to have a little better Christmas. In each of the Christmas gift bags we try to put a quilt, fleece blanket or afghan, toothbrush, toothpaste, hygiene items, a bag of candy treats, hat, mittens or gloves, a book, stuffed animal, and a few small toys. In our early years these items were stuffed into Christmas stockings. But they were hard to deliver as things kept falling out, and it was hard to tell if it was for a boy or girl. We now use cellophane gift bags, things don't fall out and it is easy to see what is inside. After the first round of bags were put together I looked around and said "well, there are 100 bags. That is all we can do right now." Then a car would pull up to donate a box of mittens. Then came hats. Then came games, toys, stuffed animals and books. The packing would begin again until we were out of stuff. "well, there are 300 bags I guess that is all we can do." After a trip to the post office I came back with more boxes of hats and mittens and some donations. Packing commenced until we again ran out of things to put into the bags. Then Fed X pulled up with several large boxes to deliver, more bags and boxes of things were dropped off. When we were finished there were 776 bags. In the midst of all the hustle and chaos a bag of pennies and a message arrived on the packing table. "I am sorry I won't be able to help you put together the Christmas bags this year. Here is a bag of pennies I have saved. I hope it will help some children to have a nice Christmas." A young child, living in a shelter, had saved up these pennies to help other children to have a nice Christmas! I confess, I still get a little choked up every time I think about it. Thank you Santa's helpers from near and far! I hope you all have a wonderful new year. Bon |