OUR SECOND SECOND SATURDAY

Last Saturday, we had the opportunity to volunteer again for the December second Saturday with our church group.  The event was hosted at the church campus where families in need were invited to come and receive from us.  There were two different parts to the day:  organizing the volunteers (about 550) and getting things set up and then escorting the families through the events.

VOLUNTEERS WAITING FOR INSTRUCTIONS

FAMILIES WAITING IN LINE

The church people had been donating bags containing socks, underwear, shoes and a toy for both boys and girls of all ages for a few of weeks.  The Sunday before the event, the pastor asked for more bags so we wouldn’t run short and the response was amazing.  Someone even drove in with a pick-up truck box full of bags.  On the Saturday, the volunteers set up tables, unpacked all the bags and laid out the items by type, size and gender suitability.  One half of the auditorium was called “Girls Town” and the other half was “Boys Town.”

Meanwhile, volunteers were helping with parking and also offering cookies and hot cider to the families waiting in line.  One group of volunteers was tasked with filling grocery bags from pallets of food brought in on a semi by Convoy of Hope.  That’s the task that we spent most of our time doing and we had a chance to get to know some of the folks that we worked with.  We probably loaded about 1000 bags and there were still some groceries left over.

There was a short live performance in one of the buildings that the families saw at the beginning of the tour, then they “checked” in and received paper “money” for each child to go shopping with in the auditorium.  Each family had a host that walked them through the process and helped out with language differences (it is good to know Spanish around here).  The children went to each of 4 tables in the appropriate town and selected socks, shoes, underwear and a toy.  Seeing their faces light up with joy at being able to pick out these items was the best part of the day.  Approximately 1500 kids received these gifts.

 They also had 3 Santa stations for the kids to visit and each family (about 800) was given a bag of groceries on their way out.  Everyone was blessed that day, both the givers and the receivers.  We aren’t boasting about the good works being done, we are just grateful for the opportunity to do something that changes lives.

What a fitting lead in to Christmas in a few days.