My Christmas Eve Day was spent in two very different worlds.
Christmas Eve morning I woke up in time to eat a bite of food and get dressed. I had spent the night at a hotel with my dad and Grandma. I was over warm in the night - and had thrown most of the covers off. I had clean water to shower with, brush my teeth with, clean clothes to put on.
I headed to the below lobby level of the hotel to check in with the Soup Mobile organization. There were at least 150 or more people milling around in the lounge area, either waiting to check in, or reading through their instructions.
I got up to the table and found out that I was supposed to have a partner - since I didn't, I got sent to the 'corner' till someone came along without a partner. About 5 minutes later this nice lady named Veronica came over, and we partnered up. We were given a clipboard with a baggie. The baggie contained 6 slips of paper, a few sheets of post it's, a tape measure, two pens, safety pins, and two instruction sheets.
We sat with the others and read through our instruction sheet. It was the first time for both of us to volunteer for this duty, and I think we both were apprehensive about what was about to happen. At first, the instructions looked quite daunting, and I wondered how we were going to actually get through all of them -- especially since one of the pieces of info needed for each person was their inseam.
Essentially Veronica and I's job was to get in line with the other 50 pairs of volunteers, greet the two homeless people who were assigned to us, get their names, waist size, inseam size and shirt size. Then take them to the lounge and give them one of the sack lunches. While they ate, we dropped off their information forms, then got their room number, and then went back to pick up their clothing bags. Once we had their bags, we went back to pick up our pair of homeless people and take them to their rooms. In each of the hallways there was a pair of hall monitors (keeper of the keys) who would let us and the homeless people in their rooms. Then, after dropping them off, we would go back downstairs for our next pair.
A total of 300 homeless people were fed and housed at a *very* nice hotel for Christmas Eve.
The first two pairs we were assigned were men. Two of the four men were either on crutches, or used a cane heavily. I talked sports with one of them - he loves his Cowboys! 
These first four were all relatively clean and able to carry a conversation well.
The first two times we took our pair to their rooms, the path was lined by other volunteers helping to lead the way. All of them were saying "Merry Christmas" etc to our group as we passed. Just before getting on the escalator to go upstairs, each homeless person received a backpack with toiletries, etc.
Veronica and I were talking later, and both of us agreed that it felt a little weird walking all that way with them and having so many people saying greetings. We both wondered if the homeless people, while appreciative of what was being done for them, weren't also somewhat humiliated by the overabundance of greetings.
The last set of people we were assigned were two women. One was very quiet, and the other was *very* talkative! She was just completely overjoyed and overwhelmed at being in the hotel - getting new clothes -- and the backpack! She just about fell over in excitement about getting a backpack. As we dropped the ladies off in their room, she kept repeating over and over "This is just Heaven!"
So, for about 4 hours of my Christmas Eve, I had the chance to find out just how lucky and blessed I am. I felt sad that the idea of getting a brand new backpack doesn't excite me at all - in fact, my first thought if I was given a new backpack probably would be "What am I going to do with this? Ack - clutter!"
Here I am with my cellphone, a good apartment (even with the neighbors who don't understand what an appropriate volume level is for a complex, or the neighbors who think that just because they have an enclosed back porch - its a great place to leave their dog for umpteen hours) -- I have food galore -- not only that, but I have the CHOICE of eating the good for me stuff or the not so good for me stuff. I have plenty of clothes - and as much as I loathe the laundromat, I have enough clothes to last me three weeks between laundry runs - without running out of clean things!
Okay, so now it's Christmas Eve afternoon. I'm back with my Dad and Grandma. We decide to go out to eat at IHOP and end up eating way too much. Then we go over to Walmart where we spend a lot of time picking out Christmas cards to send to different family members, then continue on to the men's clothing area to pick out a new shirt for my dad (from Grandma). After we finish, we head over to the theater to watch "National Treasure 2". Then we head back to the hotel where we exchange gifts. I gave my grandma a shawl, and I gave my dad Season 2 of Home Improvement. I got cash from both of them (what I asked for.) Then we watched a National Geographic documentary on Killer Whales and the summer of 2004 where they were attacking the California Gray Whales.
My morning showed me just how little some people have, and how such little things, that many of us may take for granted, are greatly appreciated by them.
My afternoon/evening showed me how easy it is to take the ability to choose where you want to eat and what you want to eat, the ability to see a first run movie, the ability to be able to exchange gifts with your loved ones, etc., for granted.
From now on, whenever I get the case of "I wish I could afford that' or "My life stinks" I'm going to think back to Christmas Eve morning and remember that no matter how bad it may get, I still have it really good.
My Christmas Eve
December 26th, 2007 at 01:41 am
December 26th, 2007 at 01:58 am 1198634312
That's a really nice way to spend your Xmas eve; i think i will try to find something similar to do on that day in 2008.
December 26th, 2007 at 02:56 am 1198637811
December 26th, 2007 at 05:02 am 1198645376
I hope you're able to find something like this where you live. I just happened to hear this advertised a few months ago on the radio - the station showcases various volunteer opportunities each Friday morning.
Dido,
I definitely received a blessing!
I plan on doing this again next year - maybe even do the morning shift and the afternoon shift.
December 26th, 2007 at 05:11 am 1198645911
Is this like a community resource exchange? Seattle did something like this about 6 weeks ago, right before thanksgiving. They didn't do the night in a room, but there was an extra twist - free haircuts!
December 26th, 2007 at 06:11 am 1198649496
Thank you for sharing your experience! It seems like a wonderful way to keep the true meaning of the holiday!
December 26th, 2007 at 03:34 pm 1198683287
This was the 3rd year that the Soup Mobile organization did this event. David (aka Soupman) throughout the year feeds the homeless of downtown Dallas from his mobile/rv - he is announced by playing the theme song from Rocky. For this particular event, it did look like there were about 7 corporate sponsors such as Sam's Club, Walmart, Applebees, etc., but I don't know if it was a resource exchange.
boomeyers,
I was getting so wordy in my post that I didn't even include anything about the children that were there! It was probably the most heartwarming part of it for me - seeing all these little children - some looking as young as 4, bringing the bags of clothing to the distribution line or helping to fill up the bags. Maturity wasn't a problem for the little ones - it was more of a problem for some of the teens.
Taking your kids to the nursing home though is a great way of teaching them service. When I was a teacher, I'd take my kids there twice a year- at Christmas and at Valentine's. I would have loved to have taken them more often, but getting them there twice a year was sometimes a battle.
Merry Christmas!
December 26th, 2007 at 04:31 pm 1198686667
December 26th, 2007 at 06:48 pm 1198694934