What I wanted to share yesterday will be today's entry--hence--the explanation from above.
Rob and I were fortunate to be invited--through his Rotary connections-- to distribute toys to children in the Mecca area in Southern California Christmas morning. This is a dirt poor part of the state with hardworking inhabitants who allow the rest of us to enjoy fresh picked vegetables, green manicured lawns and immaculately clean condos on our arrival. Quite frankly it is appalling to me the discrepancies of the rich and poor in our country but I digress and will do my soap box standing another day.
Back to our "Toys 4 U" kind of day. Our job was to monitor the toy areas and constantly restock when the supply dwindled as children filtered through the maze of gifts strewn on the table tops. I don't know how these donations were collected but if the givers saw the look on the faces of the 1300 children as they wandered through picking up their one toy and a small stocking stuffer they would render it priceless. I was in charge of the 5-10 year old boys so was able to reintroduce myself to those magical matchbox cars and a multitude of transportation vehicles along with items that seemed foreign to anyone over the age of ten. Some little fellows were shy as they approached the table and had to be encouraged to pick out their precious gift. Rob witnessed one young man scoping out the toys, picking one that seemed a tad young for him, and then presenting it to his little brother sitting in the stroller. The warmhearted lesson of giving was immediately learned from an unselfish 10 year old boy.
As always our hearts were full from seeing others celebrate and benefit from the kindness of strangers. Love this season of reaching out and will pledge to continue this warm fuzzy feeling throughout the year.
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| Me in an elf-like pose |
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| Hours spent patiently waiting for a toy |
Thanks for reading # 76 of 7777.
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