Toy service

Today was the toy service at the Salvation Army. My aunt and I had both done a special toy shop so we headed off for the service. Part way through they invited those of us who had arrived with toys today to add to the collection. By the end the table was full. It doesn’t really show here but the table is about 6ft deep and about 12ft long.

A lady from Social Services came to thank us for the gifts. She told us of an incident during last years organisation of the distribution, in which a teenager she was working with was having a difficult time. Being a teenager from a difficult background he had had some ‘choice’ words but when he walked in the room to see all the toys he had asked where they all came from. The social worker described how they had come from the SA and he had asked why they would do such a thing. She simply answered that it was done out of love. He went off but came back the next night to help pack the presents in the bags for the children.
A couple of weeks ago she saw the boy at a local college talking to his friends. She gave him a little wave but didn’t want to embarrass him in front of his mates. No fear of that apparently, he came running across and gave her a big hug and thanked her for her help with him the previous year. He caught her up on his news (now on the straight and narrow and in college too). He also gave her £19 for the toy fund, saying that although it wasn’t much, he, his mum and his sisters had tipped out their pockets. In his words he explained how seeing the toys and generosity of others last year had been the turning point in his own life.

Well as you can imagine, there wasn’t a dry eye in the place and I was no exception.

There were many times in our childhood where but for the kindness of others (family and strangers) we would have gone hungry and without gifts at Christmas. To give back is very important to me but the story reinforced the importance of love and generosity at Christmas