Have you ever made a child, other than your own, blissfully happy at Christmas? The experience will be one you will never forget. If you are lucky enough to witness the child opening your gift or receiving your offering it could draw tears from a stone. Just imagine how awesome it would be to make dozens, perhaps hundreds of kids that happy at Christmas. It isn’t that difficult either. Here is how you do it. Begin With The End In Mind It is important to know how this is all going to work out before you start. That way you will have the necessary motivation to overcome hurdles and seek for opportunities along the way. Several organizations in this area that have needs for help during Christmas. Homeless shelters, Women’s shelters, the YWCA and others are easy to find when you are looking. You might want to stop in and ask a couple of places what their toy needs are for Christmas this year. Even though they have a turnover every other week throughout the year, their needs are probably predictable. Find out where you want to dedicate your efforts, find a contact within the organization and then make a commitment to meet their needs. Find A Place To Keep The Gifts Even Santa Clause has to stage his efforts where he keeps all the toys before delivery. Without a dedicated gathering place to fill with your offerings, it is still just a good idea. Once you have this part of your plan in place, filling it becomes a priority. We recommend using a storage unit at US Storage Centers. It is safe, secure, and makes a great North Pole. You can even wrap the gifts here and have them ready to deliver on the appointed day. When people such as yourself, take on a project like this, storing the gifts and other delights at home can become awkward and it is easy to run out of room. Gather Your Gifts We suggest that you make little flyers or business cards that you hand out to friends and even strangers to let them know of your project and how they can help. You may want to point out that gifts don’t always have to be new. A fully functioning used bicycle is great. Include your telephone number so people can contact you. You may have to elicit help from some elves to pick up from those who call with gifts to donate. You will find that people will be more than willing to help when they see how organized you are. Find A Santa After coordinating with the recipients of your gifts, it is always fun to have Santa come along. It helps you to be able to watch with a semblance of anonymity and enjoy the reactions of the children. You may have to encourage someone to play this role and it may even involve purchasing a Santa suit for your jolly old elf. But that’s OK; if you do this right you will want to do it every year.
