This week all our main programs kicked off for 2021.  I had a lovely encounter with one of our ladies that nearly brought me to tears.  She is an older lady in our community and last year I was asked by a local church for names of people who would be very deserving of a Christmas food parcel.  So, I put her name forward. 

This week she hugged and kissed me multiple times with so much gratitude I decided to probe a little deeper.  As she spoke, she twisted from side to side like a little girl waiting patiently for a treat.  Her face bright and glowing like a star with a twinkle in her eye and her hands clasped against her chest, “I felt so spoilt the hamper was filled with treats, we got biscuits, grape juice and CHOCOLATE for me!!!” which she said on the exhale.  I know for a fact that this lady struggles financially to make ends meet at any time of the year and would never buy extravagant treats for herself like this.  She made it very clear that it made for a special Christmas.

I thought about my encounter with her and it hit me.  “The things we take for granted.”  Something so simple as biscuits, grape juice, and chocolates.  To most of us some of these feature as a regular dietary requirement that go in our shopping trolleys on a consistent basis.  Yet to her it was something to celebrate.  It made me stop and think how blessed I truly am and not to take the small things for granted. 

I offer a challenge to all our supporters far and wide to be a little more mindful about what you can donate to fill Christmas hampers for 2021 that will bless the socks off someone in your community less fortunate than yourself. 

To everyone involved in putting Christmas hampers together for our community I say a huge thank you for brightening up Christmas even if it is just biscuits, grape juice, and chocolate.