Recently, I was given the opportunity to help out with Santa’s Workshop down at Grandview.

The process was first-come, first-serve, and the selected students would go down on their chosen day to help wrap gifts and manage the children’s spending. To me, this seemed like a nice way to earn community service hours while still having a good time, and to be honest, it was.

However, amongst the holiday festivities and the ceaseless purchasing of plastic wonders, it broke my heart when I heard and saw multiple children crying to my friends and I about the little money they had. Some of the children were given around fifty dollars and were able to splurge on whatever little trinkets they found fit for their families… while some children didn’t have the money for anything – not even a dollar. 

One child in particular stood out to me. She was a little girl with brown hair. When my friend asked how much money she had, she started crying in the middle of the hall, admitting that she had no money. 

Knowing that I’d brought my wallet in case something like this were to happen, I gathered my friends Aidan and Emma and came up with an idea. Together, we all contributed some money and gave twenty dollars to the little girl to spend.

After she finished shopping with her newly received twenty dollars that matched her newly found smile, we got to wrap the things she picked out. Her excitement grew with every piece of wrapping paper we used.

It was sad to think that she wasn’t as fortunate as most of the other children, but it was heartwarming to be able to help her out. Hopefully by giving her a new sense of kindness in strangers, it will teach her that kindness is the gift that keeps on giving every holiday season.