Gift drive an antidote to self-centered society

For the first time since 2019 due to the coronavirus pandemic, I returned this November and December to volunteering for the local holiday gift drive, Christmas Is For Kids, which serves the greater Attleboro, MA, area.
It felt really good to be helping out again.
Not only does the gift drive personify the spirit of Christmas, but it makes a huge difference to area families who are struggling. The drive handles requests from individuals and from several social service agencies with whom it partners.
This column, which was published in the Wednesday, Dec. 7 edition of The Sun Chronicle of Attleboro, MA, summarizes the drive and shows the good that can come out of having people of different backgrounds working together for a common goal.

THE LINK TO THE COLUMN: Here’s the link to the column on the newspaper’s website: https://www.thesunchronicle.com/opinion/columns/kessler-helping-kids-during-holiday-season-is-timeless/article_671a3e3a-fb30-5f9b-be3a-2a5137b3379c.html

“The people have been making this happen for 40 years. It has blossomed into something in which we feel the warmth, hope and love.”
--- Dave Kane of WARA, who started Christmas Is For Kids in 1983

As I walked around the nerve center of the Greater Attleboro Council for Children’s for Christmas Is For Kids gift drive on a recent Tuesday --- the first time that I had joined the volunteer corps of about 150 helpers known as “elves” since before the coronavirus pandemic in 2019 --- it was as if time had stood still.
That’s because the clocks in the main room at the gift drive’s location have either been taken down or don’t work, but that seems appropriate, because Christmas Is For Kids’ recipe for success has proved timeless, lasting four decades. The drive has always had a knack for overcoming obstacles, and this year is no exception.
While the Greater Attleboro Council for Children continues to raise money to meet the estimated $200,000 mortgage for its new 24,000-square-foot building in the North Attleboro Industrial Park, the drive is making the most of its longtime headquarters, the former Brennan Middle and Attleboro High School at 135 County St. in Attleboro.
Despite the drawbacks and challenges posed by the ancient building, which the city has been unable to thus far sell, the gift drive continues to be wildly successful because of the dedication, passion and compassion of the people behind the drive.
Their tireless efforts explain why the gift drive didn’t miss a beat despite having to change some procedures the last two years because of COVID-19, and it's why this year, with things as close to normal as possible in these uncertain times, the drive is on the verge of achieving another banner year.
On this, the second day of my return to volunteering, I’m again joined by my wife Lynne. While taking a brief break from filling the gift requests for the children we were helping out based on their “story sheets” --- the paperwork filled out for every child assisted by the drive --- the reason for the drive’s long-term success was obvious: it’s the hard work of the organizers.
They’ve devised a system that still works well: the names of children and families in need of help are meticulously filed with all pertinent information, including whether the request came from an individual family or from one of the many social service agencies with whom the drive works.
Donors who adopt a child or children drop off bags, while other bags are carefully filled by the volunteers, and they have plenty of items to choose from.
Gazing out across the room, I saw rows and rows of shelves and racks packed with toys, games, dolls, books, clothes, basketballs, footballs, softballs, baseballs, shoes, boots, makeup kits, arts and crafts supplies and dozens of other potential gifts. The stage in the room is stocked with items for babies and children up to age 2.
Just outside the main room in one corridor are huge cartons filled by mittens and winter hats, while wrapping paper and more books are stacked in another corridor.
But filling each bag isn’t the end of the process; it’s not considered “complete” until the quality control or ‘’QC” checkers pass judgement; moreover, if the items at the center can’t fill specific requests, volunteer shoppers are asked to buy them with donated money or gift cards.
In addition to the elves, the drive is fortunate to rely on the generosity of hundreds, if not thousands, of people in the six communities it serves --- Attleboro, North Attleboro, Norton, Plainville, Rehoboth and Seekonk. Every year, churches, Scouts, fraternal, community and veterans’ groups, police and firefighters, businesses and government employees, including the Attleboro municipal workers, and many others play vital roles.
Those efforts expand yearly; the Leftover Turkey Trot 5K run/walk held Nov. 27 in downtown North Attleboro was the latest such success story.
North Attleboro Town Manager Michael Borg and Assistant Town Manager Antonio Morabito partnered with Christmas Is For Kids, and the result was a race that they and gift drive Chairperson Kelly Fox say will become an annual event.
The inaugural race drew more than 400 runners and walkers, double the amount expected. Those people, many from outside the area, donated more than 200 toys and other gifts and raised more than $10,000.
Fox, who said she started volunteering for the drive in 1993 after her family, including husband Alan and son Andrew, had been donors for three years, is in her 17^th year at the helm of the drive, her 30^th overall. She said she took over the drive in 2006, the same year her son graduated from high school.
Fox’s family involvement is typical of the helpers. Many people started as teenagers (the minimum age to volunteer is 13), and now they bring their own kids to the center.
That selflessness epitomizes the spirit of the drive and it’s why Christmas Is For Kids is the antithesis of the behavior of far too many people in this self-absorbed society where vitriol and vicious hatred too often win out over compassion and kindness toward strangers.
The volunteers have made a tradition of helping out because they give a darn about making the world a better place --- and that more than anything explains why the drive remains one of the great miracles of the Christmas season.
Larry Kessler, a retired Sun Chronicle local news editor, can be reached at larrythek65@gmail.com. He blogs at larrytheklineup.blogspot.com