Christmas Applications

[Ravok]

Man, it is my first year volunteering to help families out for Christmas. Getting a toy for their kids, and making sure they have a meal that day. Well, you would not believe the lengths folks go to stretch out every little detail so they can get just that little bit more than what we should be giving out.

I try not to think about it. I am there to help people as much as I can. People rarely think about how the Salvation Army gets the stuff it has to give away. We get it by someone else being kind enough to give it to us.

So, we are going to have limited resources to give out for Christmas, and I want to desperately make sure that we can spread the love to as many families as we can during the season. I hate the idea that by next week, we may run out of room for the appointments for families to come and get the stuff.

I don't think we will, and I don't think we are going to run out of things to give folks. Yet, if one family gets that little bit extra, they are hurting another family from getting what they should.

I know these folks need stuff, and need it more than during a single portion of the season. Most of my time is spent translating our speal into Spanish, and these people are really at the lower ends of the economic rope.

I been near to starvation before. I know why people try to get a little bit more, just a bit more to last a bit longer. It tears me up, even that little bit. Yet, I know more why I have to make sure people get the stuff we can provide; rather than to 'pass' on through the system, and watch things go haywire during the appointment days.

It has been a rough deal, and I am doing my best out here. I just want you guys to know that for all that churches get a bad rep, and stuff, that well; if you find a way to give someone you never met before a little bit of food, or maybe something like that - at any time - it really can make a lot of difference in the world.

I hope you really enjoy this holiday season, and I wish you all the best in the coming year. The more the joy you have, the more you should spread it around when you can. Its a rough world out there.