Share your Christmas

Are you looking for a way to give back and bless others? With Christmas just around the corner, it’s an appropriate time to begin thinking about our neighbors who may be struggling to come up with gifts for the season.

The Webster County Share Your Christmas program has been providing our community with the opportunity to fill that void each year since the early 1980’s. In those days, founder Neva Schroder organized the efforts from home and arranged to have a “Take a Wish” tree set up in the county courthouse. In the years that followed, the program encountered a name and a smattering of leadership changes. For nearly 30 of those years, Betty Funk dedicated herself to lifting holiday spirits across the county before passing the baton.

Currently, the Webster County Food Pantry oversees the Share Your Christmas project. The not-for-profit asks that donors pick an envelope off of a tree, conveniently located in Marshfield at the Webster County Courthouse and Bomgaars. Confidentiality is always of utmost importance, therefore the only identifying information supplied in the envelopes is the case number, age of each qualifying child, and 2-3 items the child is in need of or interested in, including clothing and shoe sizes. “We are part of a generous and giving community,” says Annie Nehl, committee chair. “It blows me away every year!” Nehl and her committee agree that seeing the cheer of the donors at package drop off time and the joy of case families at time of pick up brings them great satisfaction.

Thanks to the marvelous donors who make this program work, hundreds of Webster County youth will not feel forgotten on Christmas morning. However, in the effort to ensure no child goes without, too often it is the teens who wind up without any gifts. According to Nehl, it is not uncommon for donors to shy away from families with older children because they think teenagers require more expensive gifts. This is not always the case, though. Young girls are often interested in clothes, make-up or books. Young men are happy to receive video games or clothes. And gift cards are always a big hit, too! “I would ask that people remember that teens are still kids too. When considering their circumstances, it’s really important for them to know that someone cares.”

This program is designed to assist low-income or special needs families with children’s gifts and, where deemed eligible, a special holiday meal for some cases. Truly, this organization has found many ways to enhance the season for the residents of our county.

Individuals or groups choosing to adopt a family are strongly encouraged to read the directions inside their selected envelope prior to leaving the Courthouse or Bomgaars.

Nehl states that it is vital to the program's success that each paper ornament be taken out of the envelope and placed on the tree with a contact name and number noted on it. Doing so allows the committee to reach out to donors, if needed. Once shopping has been completed, individual gifts are to be labeled for the children/teens by case number, age and gender. Share Your Christmas will again be receiving gifts at the Lion’s Club on Sunday, Dec. 8 from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m., and Monday, Dec. 9 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The committee will gather at the Marshfield Lion’s Club (located at 210 West Maple Street) to hand out gifts on Tuesday, December 10th from 9am to 2pm.

True compassion is people actively helping one another from a genuine sense of caring and brotherhood. Share Your Christmas is an excellent opportunity for families, neighborhoods, churches and work associates to enjoy exercising their compassion muscles while adding a little holiday magic to the lives of area youth.

Those preferring not to adopt a family may instead make a monetary donation that will be used to fill in the gaps for families who are not matched with a donor. Contact Annie Nehl at (417) 827-0508 with your questions or to discuss sharing a special gift with the program. Choose an envelope from the tree, then determine how you will create a sparkle in the eyes of a child this holiday season.