Jaden and I got up at 6:30am to head down to West Palm Beach. That is a pretty early wake up call for a ten year old on a Saturday, but Jaden got up and got ready no questions asked. He knew what we were about to do and he was looking forward to it. When we arrived at the South Florida Fairgrounds we found the entrance for the volunteers. We were amazed to see that the line at the door to volunteer was easily as long as the line of families lining up to receive toys. The following the Love Doctors have reaches far and wide and the volunteers ranged in age from very young to very old but everyone was there to help.
I had waited until Jaden was 10 to volunteer because up until last year the magic of Santa was still all too real for him. However, last Christmas he finally wanted the truth. We explained to him that the legend of Santa was an old story about a man who was famous for his generous gifts to the poor. Now, as time has gone on so much more has been added to the story of Santa like the elves, the reindeer and the sleigh, but it really all went back to someone who went above and beyond helping those who were less fortunate. We also told Jaden that now that he knew the truth about Santa it was up to him to continue the tradition and keep up the spirit of the season. That is the lesson Jody and I are looking to teach our children and all of the other stuff is just for fun.
Since our kids have been little we have been taking them out shopping to pick out toys to donate to the Love Doctors toy drive. It takes a lot for little kids to pick out a bunch of toys that they know they will never get to play with but the lesson started early that not everyone can afford to spend money on toys and fun stuff. We tell the kids that since we can help that we need to help those who need it. So, after all these years of buying toys and donating them, it was now time for Jaden to see who these toys were actually going to.
The next line Jaden and I waited on at the toy drive was to be paired up with a family and help them pick out toys from the tables and tables of toys from Candy Land to footballs. Again, the line to help the families was so long but as you looked out at the tables of toys the sheer amount of volunteers holding up toys so the families could see everything was astonishing. It was shoulder to shoulder volunteers, toys waving in the air and a few carnival barkers shouting about what they had to offer. It was an amazing sight to see.
When Jaden and I received our first family, a mom and dad with three children, Jaden and I got to work. For each child the parent was allotted 3 toys, so we started showing the family around and picking out a total of 9 toys. Jaden carried around the bag of toys the parents picked out and when we walked them up to the line to check out he wished them a Merry Christmas. They looked back and wished us a Merry Christmas as well and a heartfelt thank you. They were grateful to be there, not greedy or taking advantage, just happy to have toys to bring home to their children. This is how our day went until the toy drive ended and most of the toys were gone.
On the way home Jaden and I discussed the people we had worked with that day. The reality was for a lot of those parents if it weren’t for those toys we helped them pick out their kids would not be getting anything for Christmas at all. Would they be able to put anything under their tree at all? Jaden also realized that for a lot of those kids, those three presents would be all they got, and he wished we could have given them more. He is used to a tree filled with presents under it, but now he really saw how fortunate his own family is. Jaden then asked if we would be able to volunteer again. How could we not?
I think the lesson Jody and I wanted to teach our kids has been learned. We will be volunteering again with the Love Doctors. Not because they need the help. There were more than enough volunteers there to cover the families that came to pick up toys. But because everyone there was there for the same reason, because two local radio hosts just want to help local families and make sure that the kids have a good Christmas. There are so many people who choose not to stand in line to get a cheap laptop or the latest video game but to help someone less fortunate then themselves. That is what the season should be about. Jaden is learning to true meaning of the holiday spirit and that is what I am grateful for this holiday season.