My Christmas gift came early this year – 10 days to be exact. At first I didn’t recognize it.
Dressed for one of the coldest days I had experienced in my decade-plus living in Squamish, I traipsed through the shin-deep snow into the big old tin building off Loggers Lane across from the log sort. Out of the wind, but still cold, I soaked in the flurry of activity inside the makeshift staging area for Community Christmas Care.
About 100 people were frenetically hustling about, sorting last-minute donations of canned and dry food. Flats of Christmas oranges, four deep, were crammed together in one corner with hundreds of packaged hams piled next to them. Beyond that, mountains of labeled boxes grouped into the family units that they would later be delivered to.
Community Christmas Care’s chair, pastor Darcy Reimer, circled the wagons and brought everyone together to lay out the logistics of how we were going to service the 300-plus families that day with a flotilla of approximately 20 vehicles lined up outside ready for active detail.
After running through the drill with great charisma and inspiration, he slowed down for a group blessing and reminded us all that we were in fact each a “perfect gift” in our own right and, standing in that chilly warehouse ready to deliver Christmas hampers to the more needy in our community, from low-income families with six kids, to single seniors who lack mobility and support and everyone in between.
I looked around, my eyes a bit misty at that point, feeling the love and energy in that space among a group of caring individuals who came together to take care of each other and those of us who have simply been dealt a harsher hand.
I wasn’t the only one touched by the pastor’s words. Grown men around me were dabbing at the corners of their eyes. To my right a couple of women donning Santa caps – clearly veterans of the cause – hugged.
We all felt considered. From the kind businesses and organizations that donated hot coffee and doughnuts, to the chapstick (for which I was particularly grateful on that frigid day!) and little thank you gifts of delicious homemade raspberry vinegar for the volunteers, I think it’s safe to say those small gestures were greatly appreciated.
When a sizable chunk of the football team from Howe Sound Secondary made its bright blue entrance, you could visibly see relief and joy in people’s faces. We were about to leap into the exercise of loading all the vehicles and their strong backs, beaming faces and enthusiastic whoops and guffaws were the perfect compliment to the morning.
Drivers and “swampers” piled out of the warehouse and into the frosty air to form a line with their vehicles. The whole process ran like a well-oiled machine as we drove in through the back door, volunteers loading up trucks and vans and small cars, and exited onto Loggers Lane through the front garage doors. The perfect system.
Out on the streets, many of which had yet to be plowed, my partner in crime, Jennifer Sale, and I drove through snow. Great care had been taken by organizers to bundle together homes that oftentimes were right next to one another. The entire process was simple and fun.
As we worked our way through the list, doors were enthusiastically opened for us and we were welcomed with looks of sheer delight and gratitude. I felt humbled beyond words to be the bearer of such treasure – the front-line for a community that had come together and raised tens of thousands of dollars to ensure that everyone who requested it would have a brighter, cheerier holiday season.
Those cardboard boxes held a lot more than food, toys and gift cards. Inside each and every package one could easily find kindness, relief, nutrition, generosity and, most of all, love.
And that’s what this season is all about.
However you celebrate this time of year, I want to wish you a Merry Christmas and happy holidays to you and yours.
