Volunteer “elves” make Christmas Cheer run
Hundreds of Lowes Foods paper bags line the shelves of what can only be described as a toy warehouse in the back of the Christmas Cheer office in downtown Burlington.
other shelves are designated for donated toys that have yet to be packed, temporarily divided by type and labeled with sticky notes. Sesame Street and Disney have their own sections, and like a darling diva, Dora the Explorer has her very own place amid the rest of the dolls. Spongebob Squarepants has his own shelf overflowing with his signature backpacks, and “Toy Story” books, games and figurines sit in their specified section.
All these popular toys have been donated to Christmas Cheer, an organization that gives them to children who would otherwise face a meager Christmas. in addition to providing holiday presents for children of the community, Christmas Cheer also serves over 1,000 families and 200 elderly residents with essentials like groceries and utilities through a sponsorship program. and come Christmas time, a whole division of the organization’s building becomes devoted to packing toys for children, and volunteers become another band of Santa’s helpers.
“Dawn calls us the elves,” said Alison Orzechowski, referring to Dawn Sternal, executive director of Christmas Cheer. Except the elves at this organization aren’t short men wearing stockings and pointy-toed shoes. They’re working women who don red aprons in the moments of spare time they carve out of their own busy holiday schedules.
this is the third year Orzechowski has been a Christmas Cheer elf, and she has become very efficient at filling the donated Lowes Foods bags with toys — a process that is actually much more time-consuming than it seems. Before packing a child’s toy bag, the volunteers consult a detailed sheet that lists types of toys, which parents check off for their children, showing their preferences. the volunteers then do their best to fill the requests, and then add smaller gifts to the big ticket items like dumptrucks, large dolls, and board games.
“It’s a little more comprehensive than you’d think,” said Orzechowski of the toy-packing process. She explains that it can get complicated when a volunteer has to pack for more than one child per family, since items need to be of equal worth and amount in each bag. Orzechowski said that the process also requires extra thought when the toy bag is for a child with special needs or who lives in a shelter, since there are more factors to consider.
First-year volunteer Betty O’Haver said that once all the toys for a client have been collected, “the next trick is packing it all in [the bag],” which proves difficult for a large yellow Tonka dumptruck. in cases like this, she writes the client’s name on a Post it note, sticks the note on the toy, and makes a note of such outstanding toys on a slip that will accompany the bags of toys. also recorded on the slip are how many bags the client is receiving, the date they’re to be picked up, and the name of who packed the toys. with this extensive recording system, the elves at Christmas Cheer are sure to satisfy most anything on a client’s list.
Then there are the times when the volunteers are able to provide a little something extra — something not on a list. Linda Newton, who has volunteered as a packer for five years, remembers one particularly memorable toy pickup. a client had just picked up the bags of toys for her son and reflected out loud to Newton how perfect it would be if they had any “special shoes,” for her son for Christmas. Newton recalls that they just happened to have a pair of boys’ shoes in the right size, and gave them to the client. “She was so overwhelmed that she dropped her bags and reached out and hugged me,” said Newton. “She was crying, I was crying …”
a box of tissues is strategically placed in the center of the packing room for moments just like these. “It’s really emotional,” said Newton. “we cry a lot.” in fact, Newton said that her first year volunteering was such an emotional experience that she didn’t think she could repeat it. but she came back the next year, and the year after that. “Once you do it, you get addicted,” Newton said. “I got sucked in.”
Though O’Haver is newer to the ranks of the Christmas Cheer toy-packers, she already has a memory that brought tears to her eyes. this year, a client who had previously sponsored a family for the holiday needed to be sponsored, herself. “Her situation changed, and this year she needed,” O’Haver said.
Orzechowski admits visiting the tissue box regularly during her shifts at Christmas Cheer. but she said that despite the emotional crying, “there are lots of laughs,” among the ladies. in the background, the Christmas music switches from a Trans-Siberian Orchestra song to “Frosty the Snowman” and Orzechowski sifts through toys and characters that she doesn’t remember having during her childhood. but sprinkled in with the modern Iron Man, Hannah Montana, and Littlest Pet Shop toys are favorites like my Little Pony, Legos and Easy Bake Ovens. “some toys are eternal – we have a Raggedy Ann doll,” said Orzechowski. “I have one at home. She’ll be 58 on Christmas Day.”
in a moment of perfect situational irony, Newton walks over holding up a battery-operated toy guitar and asks Orzechowski where the batteries are. Focused on the task at hand, Newton rummages for three AAA batteries to put in the toy bag with the toy guitar, and expresses her concern that the toy-packing process be completed by Sternal’s deadline.
regardless of which day the packing stops, though, Orzechowski, Newton and O’Haver are confident the toys will all be packed and ready by Christmas. and though the Christmas Cheer volunteers may never meet their child beneficiaries, they’ll put in the hours necessary to make sure that they’ll have toys on December 25. so even though they’re not from the North Pole, these women truly are Christmas elves. and though they won’t see it, on Christmas morning these ladies will be bringing joy to the faces of children all across Alamance County.