At work, I’ve been volunteering with our Secret Santa program. I sit at a table during my lunch hour, and take down employees’ names who want to sponsor a local child by buying them a gift or two for the holidays. For many of these disadvantaged children, it’s the only gift they’ll get. I know this because in past years, I have attended the holiday party during which I noticed some were not opening their gifts. I asked the program coordinator about it, and she told me they often choose to save their one gift for Christmas morning. Now that gives you something to think about.
I volunteered for Secret Santa thinking this experience would feed my soul and raise my awareness. It most definitely has. But it has also shown me a few other things:
1. The most giving people are those who can least afford to do so. People earning under $25K are dropping $50-$100 in the Secret Santa program while I’ve seen executive after executive walk on by without so much as giving us a second look. Maybe they donate in other ways. I’m just not seeing it.
2. Brownies seem to bring out the worst in people. I can’t tell you the number of people who have walked right past the sign-up sheet and gone straight for the treats table, where we serve complimentary cookies and bars to Secret Santa participants. Un-friggin-real.
3. Just when I thought my childhood sucked, reality comes along to whap me upside the head. Looking at the kids’ wish lists, I see some of them are asking for toys. Many others just want winter coats and snow boots. One child even asked for a haircut. That’s right — a haircut.
Being poor sucks. But being poor at Christmastime sucks even harder. It’s positively soul-killing. Surely there is a toy drive in your town going on right now. When you’re out holiday shopping in the next few weeks, give a little less to that person on your list that you don’t really like anyway. Then use that money to buy a toy. In a few weeks, you will soooo be making someone’s day.
