Daily Ramblings - Adopt-A-Family 2011

As I mentioned in my previous post, I've been pretty slammed all this week shopping, wrapping, labeling, packing and delivering all the gifts for the annual adopt-a-family program at work.  This is a program that I've been heading up for the last 8 years and while it's amazingly rewarding, I think it also makes me a little nutso (in a good way of course!) Donations were dropped off today and it's always bittersweet when I know it's all gone.  

I can't say enough about the amazing generosity of my co-workers.  We received about $1,000 in donations which went toward buying gifts and gift card, plus the piles of toys, clothes, books and food that were left in the donation boxes.  Considering times are hard for everybody right now, the giving nature of those around me impresses me every year.  I always have that moment of panic when I wonder if we've taken on too much but, by the end, I'm always overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of gifts that we're able to give to these less fortunate families.  Thank you to all my WMG friends - you are a wonderful bunch!

Daily Ramblings - The night before Christmas

Before I head off to gather with my family for Christmas, I want to share my annual charity venture.  There's a charity local to me that provides assistance to families in need throughout the year and every year through the holiday season, my office adopts some families and helps provide them with everything we can on their wishlists for Christmas.

We got a late start on the donations this year, and with only 4 days to collect everything we needed, I ended up walking office to office, cube to cube, and collecting donations.  I am touched by the generosity of my co-workers as I managed to collect $800 in about 30 minutes.  One gigantic shopping spree later, we got these kids (and their parents) all the toys they had asked for, plus books, clothing, food, and about $200 in gift cards for each family.  From one department at work, we even collected 100 or so games for Xbox, Playstation, Wii etc. to turn over to the "Santa's Room" program that the same charity runs to allow the kids from families that weren't adopted to come pick out toys.  

I feel so grateful that I'm a position to help and bring the spirit of the holidays!!  I hope that these families get the Christmas they deserve in these hard times for many.  

Wishing a wonderful Christmas to you and yours!