The civic club I belong to raised some money to help pay for some Christmas presents for some kids at a local Pre-School. Many of the kids come from homes that you might say are a bit dis-advantaged.
They held a Christmas party on December 17th for the kids and yes, Santa was to be in attendance.
The excitement grew in the room as Santa made his way down the hallway to the room where the presents were to be given out.
And then Santa was finally there and opened up his pack of goodies.
It is the expressions on the kids faces that got to me.
This little girl was very shy, but just look at the grin on her face.
Each class was brought in separately to see Santa. They would line up at the side of the room while the class before them was finishing up with Santa. I heard on a couple of occasions that they needed to be very good while standing in line, because Santa was there, and he still had the ability to work on his list of good children.
Once they got in the room, they wouild all sit down in front of Santa and wait for their names to be called.
This class had a rather loud round of applause for Santa.
Am I next?
Everybody got a gift. The smiles were very contageous.
The gifts varied to each class, but partially consisted of shoes, backpacks, books, hats and mittens.
The Santa was very funny. The kids liked him immediately.
As soon as everybody got their presents, the unwrapping would commence.
This little guy was very happy.
A few times they couldn't wait to start unwrapping.
I love the smile on this girl's face. I wonder if the little boy was wondering if he was on the "good" list. He most definately was!
This very cute little girl was keeping a firm hand on her new shoes. She was very proud of them. The employees of the local "Old Chicago" restaurants held a fund raiser to be able to buy the shoes.
And finally, I think this is my favorite photo. It was hard to decide, but I think I liked the little bit different expressions each of them had on their faces as they looked at Santa.
What a Great Day!
Nice post Jim and great pictures of the kids! You can really see the excitement and anticipation on their faces. It's great to see people helping to make a difference in the lives of others.
ReplyDeleteHope you had a good Christmas.
Mike,
ReplyDeleteThe work I do with the civic club is sort of one of those things that can give you "warm fuzzy" feelings of doing something for some other people that are maybe a bit less fortunate.
Did have a great Christmas and hope you did too.
Jim
This is so awesome! I'm looking forward to babysitting my expected grandson. Then I will have an excuse to photograph the children he is playing with.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I should check out joining a civic club. A man by himself snapping photos of children is looked at pretty suspiciously these days. Too bad it's actually a good idea to do so.
Dear CPA3485 (Jimbo):
ReplyDeleteThese pictures are proof that man occasionally rises above himself and does the right thing. They are the best depiction of Christmas I have seen all year. I can only imagine the warmth you felt knowing that some kid in that room was smiling as a result of your kindness.
I don't know that you are aware of this, but you may have had some wire-service worthy shots in here. One of the greatest pictures of all time is of a German boy, in bombed out Berlin, clutching a pair of shoes.
I think your commitment to the community is nothing short of exemplary.
The Mac Pac, the club I ride with, filled boxes and boxes with medical supplies for a clinic in a nearby town that serves those who do not have medical insurance, nor the means to pay for treatment.
Fondest regards,
Jack • reep • Toad
Twisted Roads
Dan,
ReplyDeleteThere must be some great expectation about a new grandson, Congratulations.
Best thing I hear about grandkids is that you can play with them and let the actual Mom and Dad clean up after. It's not a full time job like your own kids are.
But then again, what do I know.
It certainly was a fun day taking these pictures.
Jim
Jack,
ReplyDeleteI think you are being awful kind about the pictures, probably not worthy of anything real special except for some of my own memories.
I was madly taking picture after picture that day. There was much activity and excitement. It really wasn't until I got back to the office and loaded them on to the computer that I realized how good some of them turned out.
It could have been a much longer blog post with all the pictures I took, but decided to just pick out what I thought were some of thye better ones.
It's great to hear that the MacPac does some things like this, too. I always felt that even if you don't getmuch in the way of thanks for doing something, someone still really appreciates the effort.
Take Care and have a great New Year's
JimboBob