Its a wrap

This morning I joined many of the folks from the realtor association to wrap the Christmas gifts for needy families that were purchased last week.

I must say that it was very organized.  We were given bags with the gifts in them and a chart showing the names, ages, and genders of the gift recipients.  With as many people and gifts as there were, it could have easily gone very wrong very quickly, but not with this bunch.

I worked in a team with Gail, Monica, and Joe and we did 'assembly line' wrapping.  Monica and Joe removed price tags and handed the gifts to Gail while I used the chart to write the names on the adhesive labels.  Gail cut the wrapping paper to fit the gift, then Joe, Monica and I wrapped them.  We started with gifts for 3 kids but finished so quickly we asked for another family that had 4 kids.  Ironically, we happened to get the same family that Joe and I had picked gifts for last week!  It took us just a little over an hour to get all the gifts wrapped for all 7 kids.

Several times in the past I have picked up extra non-perishable foods and dropped them off at food drive centers, or picked up toys for the Toys for Tots drive, but for some reason those weren't as fun as shopping for actual people with names and then wrapping for them too.  I guess its because the profile charts told us about the family members (names, ages, genders, sizes, and interests) so I felt like I was helping real people, not abstract people.

Of course every little bit one can do or donate helps, so if you are able, please consider dropping off some non-perishable food or unwrapped toys at a local site near you, and give locally.