Christmas is just 3 1/2 weeks (24 days) away now. Many children can hardly wait for Santa Claus to make his annual visit on Christmas Eve. Most of those kids will have their dreams come true on Christmas morning but a lot of others will awaken to no Christmas gifts.
Last year, several of you helped us to bring Christmas to 10 plus children in our community. Without our help, they would have found nothing under their Christmas tree. So far, I know for a fact that there are three children in need of our love and care this year. One girl is 8-years-old, one boy is 9 and the other boy is 10. If you know of others who need us to help, please let me know as soon as possible. Last year, we didn't find out about 3 children until about a week before Christmas. Sort of at the last minute, everything came together and they were thrilled with their gifts.
As of right now, we have had twenty dollars donated to help with the cost. If you can help with supplying toys, clothes or some money, please let me know. If you want to bring gifts over now, that will be fine. If you prefer to wait until later this month, that is fine also. We understand that times are tough right now. If you cannot afford to help, we understand. No matter what, Stan, the girls and I will help the three children whom we know about right now.
You may not think a 5 or 10 dollar gift can make much of a difference in someone's Christmas but that would be wrong. When you're a child who is accustomed to not having any gifts, that 5 or 10 dollar gift means the world to them! Last year, we were able to help a family of three children who had never had gifts to celebrate their birthdays or Christmases. When they saw the loot that Santa Clus brought to them, they were over the moon!!! One of the children stashed away one of her Christmas gifts so that she would have something to open for this Christmas.
Because of others' generosity, all three of those children were able to do something the first day of school after Christmas vacation that they had never done before--they got to stand up at the front of the class and show a gift that Santa Claus had brought to them. They weren't forced to just sit in their chairs while everyone else got up to show and tell...
When I was growing up, I assumed that all kids had wonderful lives that included bounties of Christmas gifts. That fantasy died in December of 1989. That was our first Christmas with our son, Adam. He was 10-years-old and had not had Christmas gifts before that year. He really didn't know how to handle his "good fortune" that year. Adam shared with us that he always dreaded the first day of school after Christmas. He said that he was always the one kid in his classroom who had nothing to show or tell about. Adam never understood what he had done that kept Santa Claus from giving him something for Christmas...
For more information, etc, call me at 620-375-4584 or 620-376-8922. You can also send an email to me at slblaus@gmail.com .
VLE-B
sounds like a hand out not a hand up to me! Teir parents can't even afford a small thing like 5 dollars well maybe they should try like the rest of us & get off their duffs & do something!!!! It just makes me mad cause I seen a couple of the angel tree tags say that a 2 year old needs a size 14 pants that is bull$%^&*( I think they just want a hand out & c'mon a 10 yr. old grow up! tell them to sign up @ the bank like the rest of the kids or is their pride in the way or do they just want more.
ReplyDeleteChristmas is a season of giving yes but by golly my parents gave us what they could be that a shiny penny or a peice of fruit when we were young. WE WERE GREAFUL not like the punks of today always expecting somethin for nothin!!!!
i want to stay anominious but a very good friend of my got fired because she was ill 2 times and just got better and the rumors in town staded that she spread this virus this woman does good here in town helps others with not asking anything in return and now shes ill again.since her cancer 2001 her immue system is bad and has hard time getting well quick i know she fileing for ssi and doubt that help, also her hubby is also filing for it his deasced of diabatics and bone deasced is unable to get him work. they have to children at home a boy age 18 and a daughter age 15 and they not get much for christmas they not even gotten a thanksgiving basket either when i know they are in hardship. this woman trys to repay me back for kind ness and i tell her no. i feel some of us should help this family out as she is great woman and has problems not at her fault and shes a great mother and wife, she is a great friend of my as i have not many friends her name is elizabeth turley her address is 312 s 3rd st leoti ks 67861.she does no judge me nor others and always has a kind word to say and stops to help people all the time and ask for nothing in return. i am going try to help them and if any one else can i and others should.i know she appated it as shes done no wrong and ask for no help from no one, i know she has ibs and not contious and found out she can't get unemploement due to not enough hours,and her job done her wrong when she work hard and helped them out.people like her in leoti should be glad to have her here as for my self others talk bad because of my sons mistakes and yet she never does and never saids anything bad. lets show her the christmas spirit as i will what little i can, thanks.anonymous in leoti.
ReplyDeleteI hope that you can respect and appreciate my opinion on this matter. My parents always went above and beyond to make sure that all three of us had unbelievable Christmases. In doing so, they normally were unable to give one another Christmas gifts. Years later, they had no regrets for making those compromises. Their gift was the looks of joy that we had when we saw what Santa Claus had given to us.
ReplyDeleteIn 1989, when we became foster parents, we learned big time that most of those 60 kids never had gifts for Christmas or birthdays. They didn't even get to enjoy a special meal to celebrate. It was at that time that Stan and I vowed that as long as we were able to, we would go out of our ways to provide gifts to those kids who would otherwise go without. I refuse to apologize for what we do.
Don't get me wrong, I TOTALLY agree that there are always going to be those people out there who take, take, TAKE. In a situation such as that, they are in the wrong. The givers are always in the right.
In small towns like Leoti, it is easy to figure out who the takers are. When the parents refuse to work even though jobs are a-plenty as they are, for the most part, in Wichita County, there is generally no excuse for their children to do without. BUT...it is NOT the fault of the children that their parents are dead-beats. They should not have to suffer--at least not in my mind.
I am NOT trying to force anyone to help Stan and me to help with others' children. I am simply relaying the fact that there are some kids here who will not be getting any gifts unless someone helps. If you want to help them, DO. If you cannot afford to help or don't want to be bothered by the whole thing, DON'T. The ball is in your court. Do with it what you want.
Through the years, gifts have gone through a metamorphises. When Daddy grew up, he usually received new undershirts or undershorts. That was all. In many if not most families, that what people got. I believe that parents were much more interested in teaching their children the TRUE reason for the season. From then on, little by little and lot by lot, parents began to purchase more and more gifts for their children. One reason, is that most people had a little more money which allowed more buying more. But as time went by, people determined that they did not want to be "outdone" by the gifts that other parents were able to give to their children. So... in my opinion, that is probably why so many people litarally go broke during the month of December. No matter what, it hurts like heck to be one of those kids who return to school after Christmas and don't have any gifts they can brag about...
Thank you for expessing your comment!!! VLE-B