Tomorrow, I’m giving. Promise.
It’s the conclusion I reached after
researching and reporting for this column about some of the amazing acts of kindness that occur right here, in our own backyard.
Let’s start with the local elves. They need our help.
They’re working overtime at 58 Clinton St., at the Salvation Army, our version of the North Pole. They’re collecting new toys and new clothing, packing them, organizing them, making sure everything is ready for pickup day on Monday.
That’s when parents who have qualified for help, those on shoestring budgets, can get gifts that are donated through the program. It’s where people like Robin McConnell, known as Momma Elf, are collecting gifts faster than Rudolph and his colleagues shooting through the sky on Christmas Eve.
Still, McConnell told me, “We’re in desperate need for winter clothing: gloves, hats, jackets, underclothes.”
McConnell’s daughter, Rebecca, is a reflection of the spirit involved here. Called the Head Elf, she suffered a traumatic brain injury from a fall nine years ago, reducing her reading level to that of a 5-year-old.
But with the help of Concord Public Library staff and her own determination, Rebecca’s reading skills have jumped to an eighth-grade level, and now she volunteers at the Salvation Army, sometimes working from 9 a.m. to after 11 p.m. during the Christmas season.
“My sense of giving back to the community,” Rebecca told me, referring to the source of her selflessness. “I had to re-learn to read and write, and the ladies at the library helped me and would sit there with me after I read a book and ask me questions about the book.
“I started coming to the Salvation Army and they saw how far I had progressed,” Rebecca continued. “So they gave me more responsibility to where I oversee the Christmas program. I’ve watched children grow up underprivileged and seen what they need. They’d knock on my door and say, ‘Ms. Rebecca, look at what I got for Christmas.’ It felt great to be part of that.”
The Salvation Army is home base for emotions ranging from joy to sorrow. It’s where we see the best in people, those who give. And we see the other side of life, the one that shows people struggling to pay bills, much less buy presents for their kids.
And the organization runs a tight ship, conducting background checks to make sure those who apply for help really in fact need help. You’re also not permitted to double dip, meaning you can’t seek gifts from the Salvation Army and another organization at the same time. They check on that, too.
Nikki Holtgrew, the case manager for Pathway of Hope Ministry, the church associated with the Salvation Army, told me some parents have tried to pull fast ones.
“It’s need-based,” Holtgrew said. “It’s what your income is, which we do verify, whether it’s Social Security, disability, food stamps, your job, and we take all that into consideration.”
For a family to benefit from the kindness of others, no more than $200 can be unaccounted for per month. “You may be in a situation where you pay an extraordinary amount of rent, but it still will impact your ability to buy Christmas presents,” Holtgrew said.
Once someone is deemed eligible, tags are filled out with requests for toys and warm clothing. Size and color preference are included. Big-hearted individual, local churches and corporate donors then shop using the tags as guides.
The Salvation Army Captain is Sally Warren, an ordained minister who works with her husband, Stephen Warren, as the core officers. She told me more than 2,400 tags have been filled. Only 54 have been returned and not redistributed as of Monday.
“It’s been a very good response,” Warren said.
The Christmas effort is just one arm in the Salvation Army’s octopus-like effort. The bell-ringing kettle money gathered this time of year goes to year-round efforts not connected to Christmas, like the program at the Salvation-affiliated McKenna House shelter, which has upped its number of beds from 26 to 42.
The Army is also responsible for more than 240,000 free meals this year, many of which have gone to homeless people.
Which brings us to our other focus here, something we’ve been writing a lot about over the past year: Homelessness.
That’s the primary focus of Andy Labrie, an outreach worker for the Community Action Program. Labrie is blind, after 13 eye operations during the past 11 months, but his vision of hope remains clear with respect to the homeless.
“I think we’re making progress,” Labrie told me. “It’s slow, baby steps, and we have to address the addiction issue and the mental health issue, and soon, I hope, affordable housing. Once we address those issues, I think a lot of it will go away.”
On a smaller scale, Labrie is helping with the effort that mirrors that of the Salvation Army. He needs gloves and mittens for children and adults, and stressed the need for hand warmers, which he said people often put inside their sleeping bags.
Thus far, items dropped off at CAP headquarters include 200 backpacks filled with school supplies, 105 winter blankets, 200 children’s winter coats and 30 coats for homeless teens.
More items, of course, are always needed, and Labrie said he shares with other organizations, including the Friendly Kitchen, food pantries, Friends of Forgotten Children, the Homeless Resource Center and, of course, the Salvation Army.
Where the elves are hard at work.
See you there.
Winter clothing and gear for children and teens may be dropped off at the Salvation Army, 58 Clinton St,, Concord, through Saturday. Today is the deadline to donate gifts that were specifically listed on Angel Tags.
Clothing for the Community Action Progam, located at 2 Industrial Park Drive in Concord, can be dropped off Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
(Ray Duckler can be reached at 369-3304 or rduckler@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @rayduckler.)