It’s been a really crazy month, as you might have guessed by the extreme lack of updates. I kept meaning to write a Christmas-themed blog, but there were just so many Christmas things happening that I couldn’t decide what to write about. So here are some of the highlights.

The biggest thing happening at CAP in December is called Christmas Basket. Families who can’t afford to buy Christmas gifts sign up to receive a “basket” and they are matched with a donor who then buys gifts for everyone in the family. Families and donors start signing up during the summer and people all across the country send boxes. Unfortunately, there aren’t enough donors for the number of families who sign up (over 100 in each county CAP serves), so someone in the Family Advocacy program has to purchase and wrap gifts for several. I got to spend one entire Monday in December wrapping Christmas presents for elderly participants. I actually really love wrapping, so it was the perfect way to start the Christmas season for me. Each participant filled out a sheet with their contact info and some ideas for presents, and then we did our best to give them what they wanted. Sometimes this meant that a person got exactly the towels that they asked for, but more often than not it meant that they got some plates even though they asked for pots and pans.  We did our best, but there are some things that just don’t get donated, or that don’t get donated as often as people ask for them.

Later in December, I was able to take part in the Christmas Basket distributions. This was something I had been looking forward to since I had learned about it. I loved being able to see the people getting the presents – so often with the volunteer work I do, it’s hard to see results. I know that I’m helping students learn important lessons, but I don’t really see how it affects their lives. Helping families carry their boxes to their cars was very satisfying. I had spent much of December wrapping Christmas presents and hearing about Christmas Basket and I was finally able to see the people who were taking home the presents.
One of the most exciting parts of this Christmas season was the Jacksonhood (that's what we call the Jackson Volunteer Community) Christmas tree. I had never before had a real tree, so this was a big deal. One Sunday a bunch of us went out into the woods to find a tree. It was harder than you might expect – even though we live in the middle of the forest, there are surprisingly few pine trees. Finally, we found one that was full, not growing on the side of a hill, and not too tall – or so we thought. After using a hand saw to chop down the tree, we realized it was much taller than we had originally realized. Luckily, it didn’t have a very thick trunk, so we sawed off another foot and then dragged it back to the house. After shoving it through the back door we discovered that it was still too tall – even for the highest part of our ceiling. We sawed off another foot and finally it fit. We screwed it into the tree stand and started untangling the lights. As we strung the lights onto the tree, it fell over. We stood it back up, screwed it in more securely, and continued decorating. When it fell over a second time we realized that it was still too tall, so we sawed off some more of the trunk. It fell over one more time, at which point we tied it to the ceiling, where it remained for the rest of the Christmas season. There’s something very special about the Jackson House at Christmastime (all the time really, but especially at Christmas). In addition to the lights on the tree, someone strung Christmas lights around the living room, making it incredibly cozy and homey. I was really able to feel the Christmas spirit, something that was hard to do outside the house, since there was no snow and it wasn’t even cold. There was one night in particular where we were all sitting around, enjoying each other’s company for the last time before we all headed home for Christmas. A few people had made presents for the rest of the housemates – nothing big, but truly beautiful, thoughtful gifts. I could just feel all the love in the room, and it made me incredibly grateful for the four months I’ve spent here so far. There is so much to look forward to in the coming year – WorkFest, summer camp, another teen retreat… and I’m excited to find out where the end of my CAP year will take me. But for now I will just say Merry Belated Christmas and Happy New Year… and I promise I will do a better job of keeping up with the blog.
 

“Faith is being sure of what we hope for, being convinced of what we do not see.” – Hebrews 11:1

Erin C. is a long-term volunteer in Educational and Recreational Programming. She lives in Jacksonhood.