Volunteers make holidays brighter for Kentucky families

For most people, the Christmas season probably begins shortly after Thanksgiving. For volunteers in CAP's Family Advocacy and Elderly Services programs, Christmas preparation begins in August. That's when volunteer caseworkers take Christmas Basket applications from families who cannot afford to provide gifts for their children, and elderly individuals who are often forgotten this time of year. Participants in the program, who all meet income guidelines, indicate clothing sizes and a small "wish list" to give CAP an idea of which gifts would provide the most joy for little ones, and what household items are most needed by parents.
After applications are collected, CAP matches families with sponsors from across the country who purchase gifts for their selected famiies. Boxes begin arriving in early November and are checked in by short-term volunteers who come each year just to help with the Christmas Basket program. The culmination of the program comes in mid-December, when volunteers help organize distirbutions in several Eastern Kentucky counties. Family Advocacy volunteers take the lead in planning the distributions and the church services that precede them, but volunteers from across CAP take a break from the Housing job site or from the Respite centers to become "Santa's elves" for a day, singing at the church services and transporting boxes for participants. Along with their sponsored gifts, CAP includes a food voucher to a local grocery store so that families can afford a special Christmas dinner.
 
"People say, you're something to come up here," says Rich Layer, who with his wife Barb comes from Tallahassee, Florida, each year to help with Christmas Baskets as short-term volunteers, "but we get blessed, seeing them as happy as they are receiving these boxes from the donors...it's really wonderful to be here."
 
By the time the distributions are completed, hundreds of families will receive gifts from across the country. For CAP volunteers like Rich, the greatest Christmas gift is the distribution itself.
"It's just a joy to see the smile on their faces."
 
See photos from Owsley County Christmas Baskets