Christmas Party and Santa Helpers
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2019 Christmas Party
Written by Mary Stephenson 12-18-2019
December 8th we had our Annual Christmas Party at the Riverview Country Club. Great party organized by Dave Simpson and Jeff Silva… and we know their wonderful wives were behind all, that made it spectacular. Lots of raffle items this year. This was a nice way to start off the week.
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December 9th to 13th we had the Sycamore School Santa Workshop. Gary and I attended the set-up on the 6th, to get a layout of where everything was going to take place and how the items were going to be displayed.
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We have helped with the Santa Workshop in the past but this one was very enlightening as to who these children really are and our purpose.
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I am humbled by a new way of thinking.
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I am sure we were probably all raised with the understanding of what buying a gift for someone means. You select a gift, wrap it, and it goes under the tree for that person. It doesn’t become yours. Ethically it would be wrong to claim as your own, no matter how bad you wanted it. So we knew that if it was bought for others, at that moment it became theirs, even if Christmas was weeks away.
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You may have saved all year to purchase items for people on your list or may have been given money. Also, knowing that those on your list will most likely buy something for you. There was never a fear come Christmas Day that you would end up with nothing.
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Santa Workshop
We wrapped presents for some of these children, specifically for their Dad’s and the next day those items showed up at school. This was a first for me. Now I understand more of who these kids are and what their home life might be, if they even have a place of any permanency. Christmas tree may not even be present. Or is there any kind of tradition around Christmas for them.
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The kids were sent home with an envelope prior to the Santa Workshop to put money in and make a list of who they wanted to shop for. On that envelope there was also a box to check if the parents wanted their child to participate but couldn’t afford it. One girl came up to me and pointed out the “X” in the box and was embarrassed by not having money. She was told someone would sponsor her and to go ahead and shop.
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Lots of kids never brought back envelopes. Which makes me wonder (after talking to some of them) if the envelope ever made it home and why? Were they afraid to give it to their Mom and if so why? As I was helping a girl make a list, with tears she said she didn’t want to get anything for her Grandpa, as he was mean to her. I told her if he was mean, she did not have to get him anything. These are the heart-breakers.
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We may not have had the perfect family growing up, but I am sure most of us had what we could call normal around holiday traditions. This has been my time for looking at a different perspective of normalcy. Children’s circumstances dictate how they perceive life and values have to be learned. We can only show them what giving means, they have to make their own decisions. If not now, maybe they will remember when others gave to them and they will hold on to those moments. This I believe is our purpose at Sycamore School Santa Workshop.
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Gary and I went to the PTA meeting on the 16th to help give feedback on the event. We all addressed the problems that we had for the week and how to improve issues for next year. We talked about the purpose of it is to teach kids to give. Although there is no control if the gifts ever get home and to the intended person. Some very clever children took advantage of the free stuff and so next year items will be marked with a value even if they are free. More little rules to enforce next year, but such a huge improvement over last year. The new PTA president (Daniel Wilhelmson) was there the whole time and we appreciated his commitment to the program. We had about 6 or 7, 4th and 5th graders help for one of the shopping classes.
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71 vouchers for kids to purchase gifts totaled $386.02 The PTA made about double that in profit after expenses. Since a lot of items were free from Joann’s, I am surprised they made that much. There was a cap on one item for each person on the lists and no more than $20 could be spent. This made getting the kids in and out a lot quicker. We got to use bags for most of the gift wrapping, which also made the process faster.
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I want to thank everyone that gave their time to help in Sycamore Santa Workshop.
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Please save your plastic shopping bags between now and the 2020 Santa Workshop. Any Christmas gift bags would be appreciated.
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Total Volunteers: 23 Total Hours: 127.75 hours Students: 234
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Volunteers:
Gary Stephenson, Mary Stephenson, Doyle Fry, Brenda Fry, Ernie Mandere, Linda Mandere, Ron Mino, Janet Leslie, Andy Zopolos, Charlie Follis, Dawn Bieser, Jeff Silva, Jim Walker, John Rowell, Carla Rowell, Teri Ralston, Brian Johnson, Egon Harrasser, Lupe Arness, Ava Villafuerta, Allan Manuel, Jim Reimer, George Shelburne
2 Responses to Christmas Party and Santa Helpers
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Great NonProfits
I would like to give a shout out to Mary and Gary for doing a very nice job with this project. Mary and Gary both worked very hard and put in many hours of volunteering so that this was as successful as it resulted in. Thank you, Lion George
Thank you, but we couldn’t have done it without all the volunteers. Greatly appreciated everyone that made it a huge success.