How do we say thank you? This is a question well worth pondering as we reflect on the many wonderful gifts the children and families we serve received over the holiday season. Thank you notes have all be sent and, yet, it feels like MORE is required to acknowledge and celebrate the outpouring of generosity.
Chilean Poet Pablo Neruda (1904-1973) wrote, "Love is not about property, diamonds and gifts. It is about sharing your very self with the world around you." Here are some examples of people who shared with Laraway during the holiday season.
G, a staff member at the Lodge at Spruce Peak, noticed a Pennies for Presents canister. Pennies for Presents is a service project of Laraway School students in which they decorate and deliver canisters to local businesses, inviting folks to drop spare change in. When collected, the students sort and tally the coins---a hands-on math lesson---and purchase gifts which are donated to the Lamoille Family Center. G's spotting this initiative hatched a plan to invite her colleagues to purchase gifts for Laraway School students. A Wish List was quickly compiled, based on students' genuine interests and needs. Warm hats, a fishing pole and books representing specific genres were purchased, wrapped and tagged with each student's initials---to protect confidentiality. G and her colleagues presented the beautifully wrapped gifts on luggage cart at the resort. Picking up those presents on a cold December day was deeply gratifying and humbling.
N, a long-ago Backpack staff member at Laraway, recognized that many of our families feel want most greatly during the holiday season. She, with help from co-workers, launched the Backpack Holiday Project in which each family receives a festively wrapped box containing food, housewares, books and holiday treats to make their holidays a little brighter. The project, now in its second decade, is fueled by Backpack behavioral interventionists and case managers soliciting donations from the businesses they patronize throughout the year. Several Backpack staff also made cash and in-kind donations to support the project.
K, a retired businesswoman and Stowe resident, has a keen eye for quality new and gently-used items left at the "Put and Take" area of her community's trash and recycling transfer station. She's aware that Laraway School hosts a Holiday Store each year in which students choose presents for family members which they wrap---helped by Laraway Elves (i.e., teachers)---and bring home to their families. K has dropped off brand new and gently-used games and puzzles and she also purchased warm gloves and socks for the store's offerings.
M works in Substitute Care, our therapeutic foster care program. She had a kernel of an idea: transform our youth recreation room into a magical North Pole. She needed a tree---which we had donated---and a toy train to circle around the base of that tree. She enlisted her co-workers to provide cookies; her only caveat was that they be homemade. The youth room was decorated with twinkly lights. A fire "blazed" on the Smart TV screen. Carols played in the background. Santa (aka Program Director Dave McAllister) was ready with a gift for each youth. An ornament-making station was set up for youth to make a gift for someone they cared about. And there was hot chocolate, REAL hot chocolate with whipped cream and sprinkles. M had a vision to create a warm, wonderful holiday party and recruited her colleagues to help because all kids---including those in foster care---deserve homemade cookies and real hot chocolate.
J works in an administrative role at Laraway. This year, like last year, she quietly wrote a personal check when she learned of a youth who needed a pair of winter boots. J was generous enough to cover the cost of a "good" pair of winter boots, the kind that keeps your feet warm and doesn't soak through to your socks.
This post touches the tip of the iceberg when considering the generosity shown towards our children and families during this past holiday season. Thank you to everyone who shared a bit of themselves with our "world." Neruda would be pleased.
