This morning we showed up at St. William Catholic Church in Waukesha as volunteers to help distribute the Christmas presents for the Clearing Council of Waukesha County.
Upon walking in the door we headed immediately to the volunteer training. Here we learned about the flow: the flow of people, the flow of presents, the flow of space, and the flow of the day.
One thing we didn’t expect happened right after training. While standing in line to get name tags, many of the volunteers were asked to leave. Can you imagine that the number of volunteers to help greatly exceeded the capacity of the program? Wow, what an outpouring of love in the Christmas season! We stayed.
Henceforth we would be called “escorts.” Our job would be to work with one “client” at a time. We were introduced and given the “shopping list.” This is a checklist outlining the client’s family structure which helps us determine what gifts they are eligible for.
Obviously the Christmas Clearing Council has done this before. It was very well organized. In the “waiting room” clients would sit until their number was called. At that point they were paired with escorts who would take them to the shopping room.
The shopping room was the same room where we did the sorting two days ago. But now the toys were better organized and piled high.
We grabbed some boxes as we left the waiting room and walked down the hall to the shopping room. Entry was through the right door. After talking to the client briefly about their children and if they had any particular requests, we jumped into the fray — escorts, clients, box carriers, toy table helpers, and more — with the movement of humans looking like the motion of ants in an ant farm.
Every child under the age of 12 would get a large, medium, and small toy. They would also get a board game, a book or two, hats and mittens, and a stuffed animal. Children 12 and over could get a $60 gift card for the family to do shopping outside of the Christmas Clearing Council. Furthermore, the toys or the gift card could be traded for a bicycle. What a beautiful thing for the people who need extra help this Christmas!
There were different types of clients…
We worked with clients who were fast decision makers. They came in, with or without ideas, and quickly executed to fill the boxes. Others were slow and deliberate. They also might have come in with a list or without, but they stopped to consider and reconsider and change their mind several times trying to achieve perfection in their ultimate gift giving. Either way we were there to help.
Some clients were quite humble, so happy to have the opportunity to get gifts for their children, so thankful that this option was available to them. These were the clients I enjoyed the most. Sensing their gratitude helped me be more eager to help them, wanting them to have a great Christmas.
Other clients appeared to come in with an attitude to maximize their return. They’ve worked the system before and gave the impression that somehow they are entitled to a set of gifts. These clients were not as fun to work with, at least in my opinion.
When the boxes were full we headed to a row of tables near the doors where we entered. Here we waited until a table was open then made our way to that “station.” We set down the boxes of gifts. The helpers on the other side of the table packed them into a large plastic bag or two. We turned the shopping list over to the carriers and our role was done. From this point the carriers guided the client to pick up some stocking stuffers and then helped them back to their car.
Now we were recycled into the waiting area for the next client. After 4 hours, a whole new set of escorts had arrived and were trained. Our job was done and we left, having made a difference in the lives of local families.
We went to sit in the cafe and develop a few other options. Every choice we considered had to include snorkeling! When we returned to the registration desk, one of the employees recognized us and had 4 tickets matching our original plans. They had been returned by someone who had double-booked. Awesome!
For our last island experience we went on a catamaran adventure on St. Maarten. After removing our shoes we hopped aboard the catamaran for a trip out to another great snorkeling area. The water was a bit choppy, but that didn’t slow anything down. 