Skip to main content

Insider 's view of the Christmas Baskets

Christmas has always been my favorite time of year. I’m actually pretty sure it’s in my genetic makeup to love the season. My grandma has always decorated her house and yard from high to low, bright lights and plastic Santa’s and multiple Christmas trees shine from Thanksgiving night til New Year’s in her neighborhood. Some of my earliest memories involve listening to my mom’s Elvis Presley Christmas decorations as I sat amidst our own house’s decorations in progress.

Ten years ago it took on a very different meaning for me. I started working at Dove in August of 2004, and was pleasantly surprised to learn that in addition to all of its other programs, Dove, along with Northeast Community Fund, did an annual Christmas basket drive for those who need it. I still remember showing up in the basement of First United Methodist Church, where the baskets are organized and put together, that first year.

Some tables were piled high with hats, gloves and scarves. Others were piled with toys, separated by gender and age. Still others were piled with clothing and shoes and things like blankets and towels. IN addition to all the tables of donations, there were numerous volunteers bustling around. Some were sorting hats and gloves, others counting toys to see how many we still needed in order to fill the baskets. I felt overwhelmed, but in that good way you feel when you realize how much people are doing to help others.

Over the years, I’ve done a bit of all the different jobs that need done during Christmas Baskets Week. But last year was my first year that I was a Community Services staff member. The Community Services Program organizes everything at the church. But long before that week, as I discovered last year, we begin collecting and counting, talking to volunteers who want to help, talking to people who want to adopt families for Christmas, and working on all of the paperwork that has to be done in advance for the week.


Countless staff and volunteer hours are poured into making sure that anywhere from 350 to 400 families have food and gifts on Christmas day. It’s a heartening reminder of what the true Christmas spirit is all about, and every year since, it’s something I’ve looked forward to.

Angie Williams, Community Organizer
Community Services, Decatur Area Project

Angie working at the 2013 drive.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

You don't have to be able to Dance to do Baskets

  Growing up in the world of dance, one of my favorite things to do each year is participate in The Nutcracker Ballet. My favorite part? Giving the audience a magical Christmas experience with the perfect setting of lights, music, glittery costumes, and refined steps by ballerinas. The audience is transported to a magical land of sweets that makes even adults feel like small children in awe and wonder. Of course, that’s just what the audience sees! What they don’t see is the months and months before hand! Long rehearsals, bandage wrapped dance feet, and stage and tech crews working tirelessly so that every detail before the final show is perfected. After several years, I have started comparing the Christmas Baskets Process to that of the process for The Nutcracker Ballet. Starting months and months before, staff and volunteers work endlessly for the exhilarating distribution week to come. With that said, the magical essence of the Ballet experience cannot happen with just the prim
Post a Comment
Read more

“have you talked to a trained domestic violence advocate?"

Have you ever had a victim of domestic violence try and open-up to you about their abuse and you not know what to say or how to handle it? Have you found yourself asking a victim of domestic violence, “why do you stay?” Moultrie County Dove Office understands that without being properly trained on domestic violence and best domestic violence practices, it is hard to know what to say or do when a victim of domestic violence finally decides to open-up to you about their abuse and we want you to be better prepared. Asking a victim of domestic violence “why do you stay” can place emphasis in the wrong place and make the victim feel as if they have done something wrong. In all actuality, there are many reasons victims of domestic violence stay in and return to abusive relationships. Victims of domestic violence stay in abusive relationships for fear for their personal safety and the safety and well-being of their children. Statistics show that a victim of domestic violence is at a 75%
Post a Comment
Read more

Doing our part to make a difference.

 With so much talk everywhere on issues of violence, once again a topic discussed at the CONO (Coalition Of Neighborhood Organizations) meeting this past month in wonder of how to stop violence from happening in our community. Let’s consider narrowed down, violence begins in neighborhoods, no matter where they are. Cities including Decatur, have Stop The Violence campaigns and rallies in order to take a stand and to bring positivity and hope which is so important! But I wonder, doesn’t the remedy lay within each one of us? We must not close our eyes or turn a deaf ear, right, and when we see something, yes, we must say something, but isn’t there more? Doesn’t there need to be hands reaching out to one another in solidarity and hope with a goal in mind like the future of our family, neighborhood and ultimately our world. It begins in a neighborhood, your neighborhood and mine. So, if you don’t already have an active neighborhood group in your area, will you consider starting one? If so
Post a Comment
Read more