Share the Joy

[Racinbob 10,281]

WOW! Somehow I totally missed this thread last year. I don't mind saying that as I read it this morning I..... well..... it really touched me. This is truly how God intended Christmas to be. A special thanks will be in our prayers for you, Josh, the other leaders, the fine group of young adults and, of course, for the Christmas miracle the Scholljegerdes family has been blessed with. 

[Sarge 3,462]

Every December during the first week our Labor Hall has it's annual Fish Fry. This year was our biggest turnout and we generated enough money/contributions through ticket sales to provide 145 families with a fully loaded Christmas dinner. Our members and local Public both come together every season to do this - we all love it. For 10yrs I also worked with the Chicago Toys For Tots, getting my friends train ready and prepared to go to the annual Toy Drive parade on Western Avenue in Chicago. We also haul donated gifts for kids up there and he's done the routine now for almost 20yrs. This thing was built by Electro-Motive Division at the Sante Fe shops in Topeka, Kansas - in 1948 as a parade vehicle to promote the line's new diesel engines. We restored it, upgraded the chassis/engine/driveline and have been keeping it running ever since. Both can be a lot of work, but the reward to help others during the Holidays is more than payment enough - glad to see so many others interested in doing the same. 

 

http://www.mytrain.com/tft.html

 

A sense of community has become a bit scarce in recent times - we're all in this together and we need to look out for each other. Every religion teaches this same ideal and I love seeing things paid forward in this way. You never know, life can change in an instant and anyone can end up in tough times - help whenever you can and look out for one another, we are all God's children.

 

Sarge

[Ed Kennell 35,784]

Yeah, Toys for Tots, one of my annual projects.   In January when the toys go on sale @ 70% off, I buy them for the next years drive.

 

Tomorrow night, our local ELKs Lodge will pack abut 170-180 Christmas dinner boxes and deliver them to needy families on Sunday.

 

[Sarge 3,462]

LOL - we do the same thing, hitting all the stores looking for the expensive items that go on clearance after the holidays. It gives us a better maximum bang for the buck and the kids get some really neat things the next year. It's all about volume and quality, many of the higher end quality toys are quite expensive, but the stores will sell them off rather than pay taxes on that inventory - so we get them cheap. Things these days are outdated before they ever hit production most times - most kids don't care when they have little to nothing to start with. We don't just focus on the sort of boring, educational lines of toys either - sometimes it really needs to just be about FUN.

 

Sarge

[Ed Kennell 35,784]

I buy my toys at the three local Rite Aid drug stores.     They have a nice selection of $5-50 toys that they sell for 70% off after Christmas.    

The one manager knows I buy them for TFTs and gives me a heads up when the sale starts.   I can usually get a grands worth of nice toys for 300 bucks.