The Holidays Are Everywhere!

Well the holiday season has irrefutably arrived at the Association to Benefit Children. The hallways and classrooms are decorated with Christmas trees, menorahs, Diwali candles (we are learning about all holidays even if they are out of season), gingerbread men, snowmen and snowflakes. To top it all off, when I entered my office yesterday morning it was filled to the brim with presents for the children! I could barely make it to my seat and once I got there I saw that a giant stuffed horse was occupying my desk. As it turns out all of ABC was in the same condition-presents filled every bit of spare space. We actually almost ran out of places to put them, but that's not a problem you worry about too much when you work at a school for needy children.

What makes the outrageous number of gifts currently crowding our school even more amazing is that they are all the products of the generosity that arises during the holiday season. Every gift was donated by a generous organization or individual. Keeping track of the myriad of donors and wish lists reminded me of my own experiences on the donation side of holiday gift drives. I'm sure that most of us have donated gifts to the needy during the holidays. In many ways it's as much a part of the season as the lights and the music. At Princeton all of the varsity sports teams would sponsor needy children through Teams for Toys. We would buy presents and then have a big wrapping party in the basement of Frist. It was tons of fun and really got you in the holiday spirit. One strange thing though is that we never got to meet the children for whom we bought gifts. In fact I never really thought in too much detail about "who" was getting the gift.

Now that I work for ABC, however, I have had the opportunity to see a child's reaction when they receive a donated gift. To the children these donated gifts really are from Santa and they almost have a magical quality in their eyes. I also know just how much the children and families on the receiving end of these donations are in need. We have to practically beg donor groups to get the most basic things on the families' wish lists. The donors naturally want to get the kids fun toys, which is great, but we have to explain that these kids also really want things like socks, blankets, and winter coats too. These families are the ones that struggle to provide their children with some of the most basic things. When the children receive their gifts, they are so happy and grateful that it just about breaks your heart. It's a beautiful thing.