It's impossible to see my dining room table, a table big enough to seat 10 people, and that can only mean one thing.
It's very nearly time to deliver the Christmas Crazy fun.
This Sunday myself and an elf or two will load up a few SUVs and make the trek to Center for Victims. It will be swift because now that we've done this a few times, I've got it down to a science. The toys will be organized by type and age appropriateness. There will be toys for little kids, toys for big kids, and toys for everyone in between.
Center for Victims has this down to a science as well. Some items will be set aside for specific kids. Other items will be arranged so that mothers can "shop." Mothers who have no control over their lives right now will have a chance to find normalcy for a moment as they figure out the perfect gift for their sons and/or daughters. The gifts will be wrapped and smiles will be just hours away.
While Center for Victims is doing all of that, I will be making a stop at the Post Office. I have a pile of gift cards ready for Alle-Kiski Area HOPE Center. It's a pile of gift cards that will help them create magic for the kids they serve. They are kids who are also touched by violence. They just happen to be on the opposite side of Pittsburgh from Center for Victims.
Right now there is $1000 worth of gift cards ready for Alle-Kiski Area HOPE Center. That will go far. No doubt. But, you know how I'm greedy? I'm greedy enough to want to have to stop one last time to get more gift cards. I want to send them more. More magic, more gifts, more toys, more smiling children.
Got a buck or two? Let's wrap this all up now.
(Thanks for all of your help so far!)