“Season of Giving is a really important part of showing how we care for all our community members.” |
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It’s early December and Beth Thompson is herding cats.
She’s part of Decatur’s Season of Giving organizing committee, operating from their yearly base camp in the Church at Decatur Heights, and together with Anna Summerlin, Dorothy Love, Syreeta Campbell, Kate Brambrut, and Julie Smith, she’s managing an army of sponsors, donors, and volunteers in an ongoing quest to bring holiday joy to needy kids and seniors with gifts matched to their wishes. It all begins each fall when sponsors are recruited and tasked with shopping for one or more recipients. Historically, these recipients were identified in partnership with school social workers who consulted, among other things, the free and reduced lunch program roster. As the effort grew, however, they mitigated the risk of overburdened social workers with the introduction of direct registration, whereby parents seeking gifts for their children simply signed up. And now today, in our streamlined, post-pandemic age, these sign-ups have moved online.
The drop-off of gifts, which happens in early December on what Beth calls “intake days,” kicks off a flurry of activity that makes the whole thing come together. With the help of each year's volunteers, bags are checked to ensure gifts match the recipient's wish list, shoppers are dispatched to purchase gifts for sponsors who found themselves unable to do so, and gifts for seniors are wrapped. Thereafter, parents pick up for their children, social workers deliver gifts to seniors in low income housing, and our police and firefighters deliver to seniors in private homes.
For Beth and her colleagues, the rewards that emerge greatly exceed the work needed to get there.
“It’s a really important part of showing how we care for all our community members,” she muses. “Everyone’s valuable.” |
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Julie Smith and Beth Thompson take a break in the Season of Giving distribution center at the Church at Decatur Heights. |
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From Community Idea to Community Tradition |
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Community in its purest form is comprised of multiple organs — the governmental, the civic, the commercial, the institutional, and the religious. No single category is expected to carry the load alone, while together they operate with remarkable efficiency.
Such was the case for Decatur’s Season of Giving.
Over 30 years ago, congregants from a local church — no one really remembers which one — reached out to staff at the Decatur Recreation Center to explore how they might spread some holiday joy to residents in need. The congregants had the passion and the bandwidth but were lacking resources and space. Enter the city, who enthusiastically signed on.
In subsequent years, Decatur established a volunteer coordinator position (since evolved to become the Lifelong Community Manager) and hired Lee Ann Harvey to manage its Hometown to the World initiative during the 1996 Olympic games. At its conclusion, she took on all aspects of city volunteering, from festivals to civic projects and yes, in partnership with Decatur PD’s Juanchella Grooms, the Season of Giving.
Today, the effort is managed primarily by resident volunteers, including Thompson, who work in partnership with Lifelong Community Manager Julie Smith, the city’s liaison, and Legacy Decatur, who serves as fiscal agent and promotional partner. Together they transform the charitable investments of citizens, businesses, churches, and other institutions into a holiday commodity of incalculable value:
Joy. |
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Bags upon bags upon bags, each delivering a little holiday joy to kids and seniors. |
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Consider the numbers. This year's effort will include the contributions of 89 volunteers and 311 sponsors — including Decatur First United Methodist Church, who alone tends to 125 different children — all working together to serve 439 kids and 244 seniors.
You can’t put a price tag on it, though we’ll try anyways. Over the life of the program, more than $2.5 million in holiday cheer has been distributed to Decatur’s neediest citizens.
But for Thompson, who’s been a part of the effort for more than 20 years now, it’s a lot more than that.
“You can see so many connections being made among diverse groups of people who wouldn’t otherwise cross paths,” she says. “There are several people I know through years of doing this that I’m like, ‘If this person comes in, I want you to make sure to tell me so I can come give her a hug.’”
Makes you wonder who, from donors and volunteers to sponsors and recipients, ends up receiving the greatest gift. |
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An entire community coming together to spread some holiday cheer. |
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It's Never Too Late to Give |
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Though this year’s gifts will soon be distributed, it’s never too late to donate and help support the ongoing expenses that make Season of Giving possible. Perhaps you’re unable to sponsor or volunteer but still want to contribute. Your donations are welcomed and appreciated.
Learn more, donate, apply, or sponsor a child or senior for next year at the Season of Giving website. |
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