Among the hustle and bustle of holiday shoppers, the constant flow of traffic, the lines at the store, and the seemingly endless list of gifts to buy, I sometimes forget that there are many, many people out there who wish they had THIS type of holiday stress.
Instead, they deal with the stress of figuring out how to provide ANY holiday gifts for their family. The Salvation Army is one of several local agencies that offers a way to give these families a Christmas, and take one more worry off of their plate.
Some Volunteer Center staff and board members volunteered at The Salvation Army Toy Shop this week (above, left to right: Mary Applegren, Linda Lawton, Leigh Schultz, Jennifer Greenman, Chris Sizemore, Amanda Reel, Mary Beth Esquibel, and Ann MacCreery). This job entailed helping clients "shop" for each of the children on their list. Parents and grandparents came through the shop and were able to pick out a variety of gifts organized by age group and gender for easy shopping. Each family received: One piece of clothing per child, one main gift per child, one game and one puzzle per household, one book per child, one stuffed animal per child and two stocking stuffers per child.
Some families were shopping for just one baby and had a quick trip through, others had 5 or 6 or more children in the household and needed that extra time to find gifts that were just right for little ones and teenagers, alike. Volunteers could be seen lugging large "santa sacks" (large trashcan drum liners) throughout the shop and helping the clients get everything on the list, while carrying their selections to allow them to move about and shop freely. Other volunteers hurried around and re-filled tables with toys and other donations from the back.
The Salvation Army Toy Shop experience was very well organized and a great way to participate in the giving season and help these families have a little more joy to share on a holiday that would otherwise see very few or no gifts on Christmas morning.
For more information about The Salvation Army, visit http://www.tsakalamazoo.org/.
For holiday volunteer opportunity listings or on-going jobs, visit our website, http://www.volunteerkalamazoo.org/
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