Growing up, I had been taught that “it is more blessed to give than to receive.”  I always thought this was corny and dishonest when I was young because I loved the intoxication of wonder and delight each time I received a present.  I found it hard to believe that everyone did not share similar feelings.  Truth be told, I am still a child at heart when I receive a present.  The lovely wrapping paper enchantingly conceals a world of possibilities and I deeply relish the anticipation of tearing it open to reveal the wonderful secret within.  The holidays are a time of magic.

Though I still love the anticipation involved in opening presents, as I’ve grown older, the winter holidays have increasingly become a time to reflect upon everything for which I am thankful.  I have learned to sincerely count my blessings, no matter how disgruntled I might be with my life.  I have also learned that the reward with the most lasting value is the euphoria which fills me each time I am involved in helping others.  I realize how very trite this sounds, but it is so very true.  Altruistic deeds buoy the human spirit more powerfully than any anti-depressant drug could ever do – and the positive feelings tend to linger and give small bursts of happiness each time I recall them.

I think this is because the act of giving renews our faith in the tremendous capacity humanity has for goodness.  When we show others that we care by offering little acts of kindness or by giving tangible gifts, we impart the most wonderful gift of all:  hope for a better tomorrow.  After all, it is our hope for, and faith in, a positive future that drives mankind.  Inspiring within our fellow human beings the gift of hope and faith is what infuses the holidays with magic.  But the best part of this is that each time we give these gifts, we receive them in kind tenfold.  So, I must admit that I had partly selfish reasons for requesting to be chosen as an ambassador for the Eden community.

The organization from which I chose to adopt Eden’s first Christmas family was my local county Assistance Center.     I chose a family of five: 36-year-old parents with a seven-year-old daughter, a six-year-old son, and a one-year-old daughter.  The family has an income, but they barely make enough to cover rent and utilities and thus do not have any discretionary income to buy gifts and clothing for their children this year.

I ran into a bit of a challenge early on when I contacted the family to get sizes for the children’s clothing.  The case sheet offered no indication that the parents did not speak English, so I was not expecting a communication barrier the first time I called.  I had to enlist the help of other people to communicate with them; but, in the end, everything turned out fine.

After procuring the sizes, I set out bright and early (too early, in my opinion) on Black Friday to take advantage of sales.  I hadn’t received the check from Eden yet, but I used my credit card because I wanted to get the “biggest bang for my buck” by purchasing quality clothing at discount pricing.

I am not a morning person.  Also, I have always avoided Black Friday sales like the plague because I hate fighting my way through crowds and standing in lines.  So, if you expect me to be out and about on Black Friday at a ridiculous and ungodly hour, you’d better bribe me with something pretty enticing.  I did find something pretty enticing while browsing the advertisements of Black Friday sales:  The Gap had every single item in their store at half-price from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.  The cost of their jeans and shirts on this sale was quite similar to the prices at Target – especially when purchasing items which had already been marked down previously.  However, the quality of the materials and construction of The Gap’s clothing is superior and thus lasts much longer.  One pair of gorgeous micro-corduroy skinny pants that I purchased for the seven-year-old girl had been marked down from $35 to $21.99.  I got them on the half-price sale for $11.  The most I spent on any one item at The Gap was $24.75: a box of seven well-made long-sleeved body-suits for the one-year-old girl (which calculates out to $3.54 each!).  The sherpa-lined hooded jackets were the second most expensive items:  $19.75 for the seven-year old daughter’s jacket and $17.25 for the one-year-old’s.

For some reason, I couldn’t find a sherpa-lined hoodie jacket for the six-year-old boy at The Gap, but I later found him one online at Old Navy for $15.00.  I was so impressed with Old Navy’s Black Friday sale that I ordered a few more shirts for the older kids online.  I had intended on purchasing only two shirts per each child, but I ended up buying four shirts for the older children and the box of seven bodysuits/shirts for the baby.  I also bought each child two pairs of pants and one pair of pajamas, in addition to the shirts and the jackets.  The mom had repeatedly emphasized the need for warm clothing and I was determined that her children would not be cold this winter.

After hitting up The Gap’s sale, I headed over to Target to pick up a vacuum cleaner since the family needed one.  I’d seen one on sale for only $28 in an advertisement and was worried that they would be sold out by the time I arrived.  Sure enough, the shelves were empty, but a helpful employee scoured the back of the store for about fifteen minutes to find me one that had somehow been buried out of sight.  While I was there, I picked up some toys for the kids.  I bought a Plug ‘n Play game for each for the two older children (a Sponge Bob racing game for the boy and another game for the girl, which I later exchanged for a Pac Man game that had excellent reviews).  I also picked up a 10-pack of batteries to power the games.  The Plug ‘n Plays had multiple games to keep the kids interested for a long period of time.  For the baby, I chose a plush singing puppy that recites the letters of the alphabet, numbers, colors, and body parts because the mother had asked for an educational toy for her.

I had planned on making the family some colorful holiday-themed sugar cookies — that is, until an adorable gingerbread house kit that featured a gingerbread Santa’s sleigh caught my eye.  I imagined how much fun the family would have building this together, with even the youngest child helping to place the Skittles and M&M adornments.  I also found them a Christmas card in Spanish and I signed the name of each person who had donated to them (abbreviating any online handles which were obviously not “real” names!).

To give you an idea just how generous the Eden community has been, here is the substantial pile of holiday magic that you bestowed upon this grateful family:

I snapped the above picture right before loading the gifts into my car to head over to “Santa’s Workshop,” the Assistance Center’s holiday warehouse, to pick up some more holiday cheer.  The warehouse is actually an out-of-business Albertson’s grocery store, which is being put to good use as a storage site and pick-up location for donated food and toys for the Santa’s program.  The program offers a one-month supply of food, three $15 Payless Shoe Source gift cards, and three toys from a community toy drive for each adopter to deliver to his or her adopted family, along with the gifts of clothing and toys that the adopter had purchased and wrapped.  I had been given the shoe gift cards the day that I adopted the family, but I still needed to pick up the supply of food and the toys from the warehouse on one of two scheduled dates.   I set up a delivery time with the family on the first available date – Saturday morning, December 18.

Arriving at the warehouse, I checked in and was given a sheet to present the mother for acknowledging delivery of the food and toys, which I needed to return with her signature to the organization.  I was a bit disappointed that I wasn’t allowed to select the toys myself, but I was still very happy to get an additional toy per child so that each of them would receive two.

Driving around to the back of the old grocery store, I was greeted by a bunch of volunteers who completely filled the trunk of my car with four large food boxes (in the photo, one of the boxes is hidden behind the others).  I couldn’t help but take a peek inside the big box on the left and the top box on the right:

With my hatchback trunk completely full, the volunteers placed the other two boxes of food (one of which was all baby food) in the back seat, next to the wrapped vacuum cleaner.

To make everything fit, I had to squeeze the other presents I’d wrapped into the front seat and front floorboard of my car.  It was so packed that I had to precariously balance the last bag of packages and slam the door quickly before it could fall.  For the first time that morning, I was actually glad that my husband was unable to come with me because either he would not have had a place to sit or we would have had to make more than one trip!

When I finally arrived at the family’s apartment, the mother and her children were waiting outside on their upstairs neighbor’s balcony, all anxiously looking out for my arrival.  The father was not present to help unload all the boxes (probably because he was working), but a neighbor helped me to unload everything and to also translate any information too complicated for the six-year-old and seven-year-old to convey.  Mom kept trying to help, but during the commotion my arrival brought, she was contending with a squirming, crying 13-month-old who shrieked in terror each time her mother tried to put her down.  Mom and the two older kiddos were literally buzzing with excitement – and the novelty of this experience just confused and frightened the baby.

After the tiny kitchen table and countertops were loaded to the max with all the boxes of food and all the gifts were brought inside their small, but immaculately clean apartment, the mom happily agreed to my request to photograph her children, though she declined being in the photo herself.  I made certain that her neighbor let her know that I would be posting it online in a story about the Santa’s program, but emphasized that her children’s names would not be publicized.  Big Sis used her new Barbie to bribe her protesting baby sister into finally leaving her mother’s arms, while Big Brother kept a reassuring hand on her long enough for me to snap a quick photo:

The children were exceptionally well-behaved and it was obvious that they had an attentive and loving mother.  As I was leaving, the grateful mom tore her children away from their rapt contemplation of their gifts to thank me repeatedly.  I wish you could have seen their faces.

I hope you can look at the photo of these beautiful children and feel wonderful knowing what a difference you have made in their lives this Christmas.  As they grow up, they will always have the happy memories of the magic of this season – not only the building anticipation of discovering the secrets concealed behind wrapping paper, but – most importantly of all – the experience of waking up on Christmas morning to participate as a family in an event to be cherished and remembered.

Though this is an online community, we have managed to reach out to help many families in “the real world.”  I am so very grateful – not only for the honor of representing all of you and the joy of being involved in this experience, but also for your generosity in raising $356.89 to help this family that I adopted in my local community.  I hope each of you and all of your family members are filled to overflowing with the magic of this season as you anticipate the hope and promise offered by a new year – no matter which winter holiday you celebrate.