“Here’s the plan,” Sue said. “Same as always, but I’ll recap for those who are new. I’ve split the requests into equal numbers. We’ve got forty families signed up this year. We’ll organize their needs and add to them if we think it’s necessary. Usually, we get a couple extra family requests in the last few days before Christmas, so we’ll plan for fifty. Better to have too much than to run out. Am I right?”
The entire room chorused their agreement.
“Take your family lists and compile some gift suggestions,” Sue said. We want toys that will grow with the child. Things that will last. We’re lucky to have ten corporate volunteers who each want a family or two. They’ll take care of the gifts for that family. Other companies have given cash donations or gift cards for groceries. Figure out any special needs for your family. Think dietary issues, allergies, pets, things like that. Are the children young enough to believe in Santa Claus? Make a list of clothing needs if they are mentioned. We’ll regroup in half an hour to see what we have.”
They broke into groups and started working. “How are the hampers distributed?” Zane asked when Sue joined their group.
“We use cardboard boxes. We have an unlimited supply. The grocery store and the liquor store are saving them for us. Why?”
“Could we use laundry hampers? Give them a useful item instead of just boxes?”
Sue laughed. “We could, but each family receives four or five boxes, depending on family size and how many donations we get.”
“Oh. I’d be willing to donate fifty hampers to put some of the gifts in. We can decorate them with ribbon or bows to make them more festive.”
“Are you nuts? That’s a lot of money,” Clara exclaimed. He was so generous her heart warmed. Everything about him was perfect. Except that he was leaving.
“I’m not crazy. I think it would be a nice touch. Do we do stockings for the kids? The company I work for might be convinced to donate actual stockings and things to fill them. I can check once we have numbers.”
“That would be incredible. Thank you. Let me know if they’ll pitch in and we’ll happily accept those baskets if you wish to donate them.” Sue smiled.
“I’ll hold off buying them until we have the final numbers. If we are short on cash, I’ll donate the equivalent amount of money to fill the coffers instead of buying hampers. Okay?”
Clara’s heart swelled with pride. She sniffed back a happy tear and grinned at Zane. She expected him to be bored tonight. Instead, he was giving and generous.
“I’ll text my boss right now about the stockings. I’ll pitch the idea and see what he says.” He pulled out his phone.
Clara and Sue made a list of names, ages, and genders of children. As each group finished their list, they brought them over and Sue entered them into a laptop.
“We have 120 kids,” Sue said. That means we need to make 480 labels for the angel trees. Each child will get six gifts. Four from the angel trees and two that the committee purchases. Please take your list and start making tags from these.” She held up white and red tags shaped like angels. “Label each tag with the gender and age of your children. Remember, four for each. No names, we want to keep this anonymous.”
“How do the tags work?” Zane asked.
“We hang them on Christmas trees in different businesses. People choose a tag and buy a toy that suits the tag. They attach the tag to an unwrapped gift and put it in donation bins near the trees. Some people don’t take tags; they buy gifts and drop them in the bins. That helps make up for any unchosen tags.”
“Impressive. It’s a good plan. Very strategic.”
“Yes, it is,” Sue agreed.
“What about the clothing?” Clara asked.
“That’s our task. We’ll take those lists and put in an order at Felicia’s Fancies. She’s got suppliers on standby to meet our needs. Once we get her the list of items and sizes, she’ll have them here within four days. At cost.”
“I’m impressed at how efficient this group is,” Zane praised, pausing in filling out a tag. “You’re right on top of things.”
Sue nodded. “I’ve headed this committee since I had my first daughter. Jenn was only two when I took over from the previous leader. She had a kick-ass system. All I did was computerize it a bit. Soon, it will be time for one of my daughters or daughters-in-law to take over the role. I used to hope one of my boys would do it, but they’re always distracted. They prefer hands-on physical ways to help. Or maybe you would be interested, Clara. Your aunt used to volunteer every year.”
“I don’t know about taking over, but I’m happy to help.”
“Consider it over the next year. If you’re interested, I’ll start grooming you next Christmas. It takes time to learn the system.”
“I’ll think about it,” Clara replied. “Could she really do something so big and important? It was a huge job. They’d barely gotten started, and she was getting an idea of how much effort was put in by the volunteers. That didn’t even include the extra people who would be used to fill and deliver the hampers. She sat beside Zane and picked up a marker.
“You’d be good at it,” he suggested, reaching for another tag.
“I don’t know. It’s a huge job.”
“There’s already a system to follow. If you have time, you’d be perfect. You’re outgoing, confident, people like you. You’d be great.”
