26th Annual Holiday Party: From the Elves' Perspective

“I just like to smile! Smiling's my favorite.” –Will Ferrell as Buddy in Elf

Santa's Red Cross elves: Lydia Hignite, Sara Clifton and Colleen Stufflebeam work to spread holiday cheer at the 26th Annual Holiday Party

Monday, Dec. 17 Santa took a break from his sleigh and instead rode a fire truck downtown to the American Red Cross building on East Chestnut Street. Once he and Mrs. Claus had made their big entrance and settled into their places of honor, each in a chair sturdy enough to hold Old St. Nick and a little one on each knee, the couple proceeded in turn to greet each child and give him or her a small bag of toys. These were children who had lost some or all of their belongings to fire in the past year.

Santa must have good knees, because he gave 113 children toys that night. More than 35 Red Cross volunteers, alongside the firefighters of Louisville Professional Firefighters Union Local 345, donated their time to make the event a success, serving refreshments and overseeing crafts and games.

Of this group, four Red Cross staff members served as Santa’s trusty elves. The elves took seriously their role of  maintaining a neat line of children and families progressing toward Santa amidst the hubbub and excitement, chit chatting with those waiting in line, and smiling. There was a lot of smiling. Here, the elves share some highlights of the night:

“Spreading holiday cheer is not a tough job, especially when you have elf ears and your clothes jingle everywhere you go. I loved high-fiving little hands covered in candy cane stickiness and watching faces light up in awe with the first sight of Santa Claus. But most of all, I enjoyed watching families smile and laugh and play in spite of the difficult circumstances they’ve faced over the last year. Everyone should have the opportunity to share the wonder and joy of the holiday season with a child. There is a lot of healing there for elves, adults and children alike.”

-Rebekah Farley, Volunteer Specialist

“It was a memorable experience to see the children receive the presents firsthand, especially since Santa keeps us in the toy shop for most of the holiday season. I know this party was directed towards the kids, but the parents enjoyed it just as much. The evening was full of joyful songs, ear-to-ear smiles, and full belly laughs!”

-Colleen Stufflebeam, Community Resiliency Specialist

“The children at the American Red Cross party got a true tour of Santa’s workshop.  As an elf I got to help with presents but I also got to chase the children around and compliment their face paint.  We got to see the true blessings of our hard work!  The older I’ve gotten the more I’ve realized that finding presents under the tree is pretty cool, but helping Santa makes for the best Christmas imaginable!”

-Sara Clifton, Community Resiliency Specialist

“Right before each kid was about to see Santa, some were over-the-moon excited, jumping up and down, and some of the older kids were playing it cool. They probably felt they were a little old to be meeting Santa, but you could tell that they were actually secretly excited and happy to be there. And some of the really little ones were a little shy to meet him, but they had fun too. The kids jumping up and down had the biggest smiles on their faces I have ever seen. Their enthusiasm was infectious.”

-Lydia Hignite, Community Resiliency Specialist

A Bit of Happy News

The Red Cross workforce—employees and volunteers included—is made up of humanitarians, people who want to improve the lives of others. Over the past weekend, I saw an outpouring of Humanitarianism highlighted by Friday’s tragic school shooting in Connecticut. While some people don’t show it as often as others, it was a reminder that, overall, most people want to do good and help others.

In just the past month, the Louisville Area Chapter has had the pleasure of working with thousands of these “everyday” humanitarians. Schools, businesses, and other community organizations in Kentucky and Southern Indiana helped sign 42,000 cards for the 2013 Holiday Mail for Heroes Campaigns. The cards included thank you’s, well wishes, and even plain hellos to let military members, their families and veterans know someone was thinking of them during the holidays.

On December 13th, 14 students graduated from the Red Cross Nurse Aide Training (NAT) program. A few of them shared stories on why they chose to pursue a nursing career. NAT student Cindy King said that while the workdays might be long, she believes being a nurse is the most rewarding job a person can have. “During my training, I’ve seen that just a smile, a drink, or the smallest conversation will brighten someone’s day,” Cindy said during the graduation ceremony.

On the 17^th, we hosted our annual Holiday Party for kids affected by home fires. The kids had a blast sitting on Santa’s lap, getting their faces painted and participating in fun arts and crafts. Our partners with the Louisville Firefighters Union Local 345 stood by quietly, observing the children react to their gifts. While shopping for toys earlier this month, the cost surpassed the allocated budget. Union members pooled money out of their own pockets to help cover the excess.

These acts of kindness give me that warm, fuzzy feeling even when I’m having a bah humbug kind of day. I hope the stories and photos help brighten your day, too.

Holiday Party & Wintry Mixes

The McKenzie family was left without a home after an apartment fire in November. One month later, they are thankful for what they have and are working hard to return to normalcy.

Monday night’s Holiday Party was a great way to ring in the season. Children and their families, some of whom experienced home fires as recent as last month, visited with Santa and received gifts thanks to the Louisville Professional Firefighters Union Local 345. See more photos from the event on our Flickr page.

Home fires aren’t the only threat to Kentuckiana families. Tonight meteorologists are predicting a “wintry mix”—weather reminiscent of the 2009 ice storm. While experts say it will be nowhere near as extensive, local residents can still prepare for dangerous road conditions and power outages.

To ensure you are prepared for a power outage, print off this checklist. If a power outage calls for the use of a portable generator, read over these safety tips first, and if you must travel, make sure you have a disaster kit in your car in case of an emergency.

For a full list of items to keep in your disaster kit, go to www.redcross.org.

The Most Busiest Time of the Year

Ok, so that may be grammatically incorrect, but so is most busy, and it doesn't have enough syllables. Since there is much going on at the chapter, I've decided to make this post a sort of wrap-up of activities. I imagine the Red Cross looks much like the North Pole during December. Wrapping paper covering the doorways, employees sneaking around masquerading as Santa and, of course, hundreds of toys being stored away for children attending the annual Holiday Party.

Red Cross volunteer Claudette Walker mans the Kmart check out line, while others shop and load up the toys.

Speaking of which, Red Cross workers and members of the Louisville Professional Firefighters Union Local 345 spent Friday morning at the Kmart on Poplar Level Road shopping for all the little girls and boys invited to this year's party. Over 200 children ages 12 and under will be attending the party with their families on Dec. 13. Each family was assisted by the Red Cross during a home fire during this past year. Some families are still in the recovering process, and the toys purchased will help replace belongings lost in the fire.

Sigma Chi fraternity member assists the winning group (Pi Beta Phi) build their fort at Wednesday night's Wrap Up America event.

Red Cross workers were also out and about on Thursday night participating in Wrap Up America at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium. The event brought in over 2,500 blankets which will be given to organizations assisting the homeless. New blankets will be donated to the Red Cross to use when assisting people affected by disaster. The event also offered our community disaster educators, a.k.a. AmeriCorps, an opportunity to train participating groups in disaster preparedness.

Check out our Flickr page for more photos, and stay tuned for more Red Cross goodies throughout the holiday season.

It's Better to Give than Receive

The older I get, the more those early lessons my parents taught me prove to be true. One such lesson is that it is better to give than receive and it's always appropriate during the hectic holiday months.

It really hit home for me when I volunteered at the Louisville Red Cross and Louisville Professional Firefighters Union Local 345 23^rd Annual Holiday Party on December 16. We got the opportunity to give a little bit of holiday cheer to over 300 Kentuckiana children who lost their belongings to home fires in the past year.

Being witness to that many young people getting to visit with Santa and not go home empty handed was quite a delight. However, the smile on faces of their parents and guardians was equally rewarding.

I had the privilege of speaking with Shawn, who takes care of her two grandchildren. She told me that they lost just about everything to a fire a few months ago. Thankfully, the family is getting back on its feet and Shawn had high praise for the Red Cross, an organization that until recently, she thought was just for donating blood. Our local chapter responds to about 25 home fires every month and provides victims with assistance for food, clothing, prescription medications, temporary shelter and other special needs a family may have. Shawn referred to the volunteer that helped her family as their "little angel." What was really moving was that Shawn, who didn't consider herself the "volunteer type," was so taken by her experience with the Red Cross that she now volunteers at her local animal shelter.

It truly is better to give than receive.

A Most Wonderful Party

I’m not sure who was more eager to watch Santa’s arrival at the Annual Holiday Party—the children, or their parents. There was lots of shouting and excitement as parents carried their kids to see the jolly man himself ride up in style atop a fire truck with flashing red and blue lights.

Since it was my first year, I tried to be everywhere at once. While waiting for their turn with Santa, children and their families could join Red Cross volunteers for crafts, games, face painting or snacks which included donated goodies from our friend Erica at Citizens for Cake!

Overall 71 families attended, and 163 Children sat on Santa’s lap to receive gifts donated by the Professional Firefighters Local Union 345. It was great to see the smile on each kids face as they received their bag of gifts, and also a great reminder of how good it feels to bring a little glimmer of hope to others during hard times.

Thanks to everyone for your donations and support of the party! Without you, it would not be possible 