I don’t celebrate Christmas. I don’t buy gifts for my family. Don’t store boxes of decorations in the garage to pull out once a year and spread around the house – don’t want to receive any gifts. Just don’t. Not interested. It’s wonderful to walk through a store, turn on the tv or even be on the internet and be free because I’m not consumed and misguided by all the foolish commercialism that surrounds the holiday.
I do, however, want toys for my kids. I spearhead a toy collection at the office every year. We ask for used toys. We will clean them, make clothes for them, paint them, put batteries in them– whatever it takes to restore them to “health.”
Three years ago a police officer spoke to someone about the devastating living conditions a lot of children have on the poor side of town where he works. That was all we needed to get this started. From there, it was easy. I started hounding people for toys. I even make it easy by taking the used ones. You don’t have to buy anything, just go through the kids’ rooms and pack up some of the old toys to make way for all the new toys you plan to give your kids for Christmas. This has really worked well.
There’s a Christmas party for the community at the police station, and for those kids who don’t get to come to the party, the officers put the toys in their vehicles and drive around to give them away. Because they know the kids in the community fairly well, they know just who didn’t make to it to the party and they make sure they get something. We collect a wide variety of really nice toys. As I said, we clean them, sew them up – do whatever is needed to make them good as new. Sometimes people will buy new things and drop them off. That’s beautiful. We can go without buying a cup of coffee for a week and get a toy for a kid.
Next year I’d like to expand the drive and the collection. I hope many other companies follow suit and hold their own drives. One thing that’s a little lacking are gifts for teenagers. I have to find a way to add basketballs, footballs, MP3 players and other gadgets that are more attractive to teens.
No, I don’t believe in Christmas, but I do believe in love and in bringing a smile to someone’s face, especially when they need it the most. Every town has its poor and the number of homeless families in America is increasing every year. Find a need, find a way to bring a smile — mother’s day plants at a women’s shelter, new socks at a homeless shelter or AIDS center.. a man may be homeless, but he’s probably also a father…a woman may be in prison and never had the chance to be a mother. Everyone needs love some way, some how. Think of these little things that mean so very much to another human being. Find a way to fill a need and bring a smile. Be a part of this wave of reckless, random kindness. Let it flow all year long, every day, every moment. I am proud to be a part of this wave. Will you be a part of the wave too and do something where you are?
