Posted: 12/21/04
Generosity keeps Care & Share growing
 Julie OíMara-Meyer and Marilyn Nelson organize clothing at the Care and Share gift distribution on December 15. |
By David Heiller
Argus News Editor
ìTake a look. We have a lot, a lot.î
PJ Johnson met me with those words in the basement of Merchants Bank in Caledonia on December 15.
She had a bit of pride and amazement in her voice, and I quickly saw why.
The room where we stood had tables sagging under the weight of clothes and toys.
That was a relief for Care & Share workers like PJ. She wasnít sure the donations would be so good, what with the tough economic times that some people are experiencing.
Care and Share is a non-profit organization whose main mission is to provide toys and clothing for needy families in Houston County at Christmastime.
I had stopped in for the second straight year to watch some of the distribution in action.
Last year, PJ had conned me into filling a bag. Iím not a shopper, and it took me four months to recover from that act. So I politely declined ñ several times ñ her invitation to do it again this year.
PJ lifted an easel, unopened in its colorful box. ìThese are not inexpensive things,î she said, a tone of surprise showing in her voice again. ìPeople were really generous this year.î
That includes not only gifts but money too, she said. And Care and Share had a good portion of gifts for each age group. Older kids donít always get as much as younger ones. But people had brought in things like CDs, DVDs, and remote control cars, PJ said.
As I wandered around the room, I heard about that generosity from many other workers.
And I saw some really fine people in action, like Nichole Hintz. She had taken some vacation time from her job with Houston County to fill some Care and Share orders.
Hereís how the process that Nichole was doing works: Each person takes a paper bag that has a card attached to it. The bag already has some clothing in it that is purchased specifically for a person in that family. (Families, who remain anonymous to the volunteers, are identified by number, not name.)
Then workers like Nichole find toys that fit the requests listed on the cards, such as for a boy age seven or a girl age three.
I asked her why she was doing this. ìI think its really cool,î Nichole answered. ìI thought it would be fun to do for the kids.î
Itís overwhelming, she added after a minute of peering at a table filled with toys. ìItís actually pretty hard to pick some stuff.î
Bonnie Goetzinger brought in a CD that contained Christmas music into the room.
ìHey we get music this year,î Susan Kittleson said.
Tammy Albert went searching for an outlet for the CD player. It wasnít easy: they were all covered with toys!
I asked what the most popular toy requests were. Stacy Johanson smiled and held up a Bratz doll. (Stacy looks like a woman who enjoys being in a toy store.)
And donít forget Elmo and race cars and puzzles and learning toys and Harry Potter books.
ìThatís good,î PJ said. ìKids are reading again.î
Hands-on toys are popular, PJ added. ìThey want to interact with the toys.î
Tammy Albert had finally found an outlet for the CD player. ìLet It Snowî started to play, and Sue Kittleson seemed to get a spring in her step.
ìClothes,î PJ said, remembering another thing. ìThey always need clothes.î
I jotted down some of the games that filled one area: Life, Battleship, Taboo, Yahtze, Sorry, Scrabble, Clue. That was just a start.
Throw in the stuffed toys, mittens, basketballs, plastic baseball bats, personal hygiene products, and a jillion other things, and you see why my head had started to spin.
Clint Black sang out of the radio, ìSanta gives away to all the girls and boys.î True enough, I thought, and Santa has a lot of helpers in Caledonia.
Out in the hallway, I watched as Julie OíMara Meyer and Marilyn Nelson folded clothes on a long table.
Julie said she tries to help out every year. It goes well with her job as family support worker at Caledonia Elementary School. She knows first hand how difficult things can be for some families. ìSo itís even more important that they get some help,î she said.
Julie is also a student council advisor at the school. She and principal Connie Hesse help the student council organize a fund drive to gather money to buy gifts for the program.
ìThey bring in all their pennies, nickels, and dimes, then the student council goes out and shops for toys,î Julie said.
This year they gathered $235.67 in one week.
That activity helps children in need, and it helps the school, Julie feels. ìWe think itís important to be a part of it.î
It also illustrates another side of the benefit of Care and Share. It is important to families and the community to give, Julie said.
ìWeíre helping our own communities and the families in it,î she said.
I headed down the hallway to one more stop: the room where the gifts were being put in plastic garbage bags for final distribution before Christmas.
That distribution is another huge effort that takes a lot of work. The bags are delivered by other volunteers to different drop-off sites in the county. People who request items are notified that they are at the drop-off site, and they pick them up there.
Jill Hahn was checking bags, making sure everything was age-appropriate.
ìA lot of generous, generous people,î she said, repeating the theme of this yearís Care and Share.
Caledonia Argus
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