The Giving Tree - December, 2016 |
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"The Giving Tree" is St. Joseph's holiday gift distribution program. Our clients sign up in September and we collect the names, ages, and clothing sizes for the family members. We usually get requests for approximately 2,500 people.
The information is sent out to various churches, schools, and community groups who place the requests on their respective "Giving Trees." Kind people take the information and purchase gifts of new clothing, hopefully for the correct size, age, and gender. Gifts are collected and brought to either our "Giving Tree location" for families, or to St. Joseph's for individuals and seniors. Volunteers: Together they do so much An army of volunteers then check that all of the people who signed up have the correct items. If they don't, or if the gift was not returned, we "shop" for the gift from the new clothes that have been donated during the year. The volunteers also check that each person in the family has the same quality and quantity of gifts. Toiletries and "small" items (hats, gloves, etc) are added to each gift bag. The bags for each family are compiled into a big black bag, labeled, and then delivered to St. Joseph's on a tractor trailer. A beautiful act of strangers helping strangers... This year, our volunteer donors and helpers collected, sorted, and organized gifts for 350 families, 110 senior citizens, and 62 single people. The process begins in September when we collect the requests from our clients. Requests are fulfilled by generous people throughout the area, and are then organized and sorted into gift bags by an army of volunteers. These beautiful acts of strangers helping strangers helps make the holidays special for many of our clients. |
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