Making a List and Checking it Twice

We are approaching the holiday season and no matter what culture or religion you are affiliated with it is the time of giving. It is nice that we are reminded sometimes to be a little bit kinder or to think of those who may need a helping hand because we never know when we will be in that situation ourselves. Of course what would a blog post about an announcement be without a story to really make you think.

As a child I loved the Sears Wishbook and would page through that giant glossy catalog dog earing and circling everything that a little girl’s (with pigtails and little purple glasses) heart desired. I wrote everything down and even gave Santa the page numbers, and off my letter went to the North Pole. My mother explained to me that Santa may not be able to bring everything on my list but he would pick out nice things for me. But he was Santa?!?? So I gave her a head nod and winked to the elves that were watching from behind the bushes to see if I was naughty or nice. They knew better, this was Santa afterall, he was magical and brought wonderful toys and gifts if you were a good kid. Aside from the occasional times that i made my brother dress up in a costume to entertain my friends and I, I was a good kid.

On the other side, I had friends who got elaborate play houses and giant barbie houses for the holidays. This just didn’t make sense to me

So one day in the car as I was riding with my mother, I thought I would ask. Becuase you see riding in the car with my mother was the time that we had to talk. This sounds so wonderful and sweet but it wasn’t because in a car, one is trapped, so my mother also used this as a time to discuss hard hitting issues that came later in life when I truly thought at the next red light, I was going to jump out and walk home. So why not hit her with something hard. “Mom, I have a question about Christmas?”

“Yesss, honey” she said as she drew out her S because she knew that sometimes I had very probing questions and would bring up the answers at inoportune times at that age (like the time I asked my cousin about his anatomy at a fancy restaurant in front of the whole family).

“Well why did you say that Santa may only bring some things on my list? You give to the church and other families that “need” things, and then my friend at school gets everything and more on her list” I don’t understand, am I a bad kid, are those kids at church bad? I just dont’ get it?”

“Well honey, Santa brings the gifts, but the parents write him a check, so what you get is based on our budget” Ding Ding Ding I got it now. so that began my understanding of budget. I became very astute with the calculator and figured number of presents etc etc every year after that. When I went to New York City with my mother, I wanted to give to every homeless person on every street corner. We had to get money to these people so that they could write Santa a check for their kids.

So why am I telling you about a holiday budget. Well, times really haven’t changed and there are still parents out there who don’t have anything left in their account to write Santa a check but he would love to bring theose kids wonderful gifts this year. So at 21st Street Coffee and Tea along with our customers we are going to write Santa a check. There is an organization in pittsburgh Goodfellows that was started XXX years ago by to give presents to children who needed them. What we are going to do is from Dec XX -Dec XXX (12 days of Christmas), we will be ablt o take a donation at the register. The minimum donation that we ask is a quarter. if everyone gave just one quarter as well as a contribution from 21st street Coffee, we would be able to make some kids really happy. We will ask at the register if you would like to donate a quarter to Goodfellows. you can certainly donate more or not at all. it is up to you and you may have already given all that you can this year, so there is no pressure. But we can combine our efforts and really make a nice donation.

As a child I loved the Sears Wishbook and would page through that giant glossy catalog dog earing and circling everything that a little girl’s (with pigtails and little purple glasses) heart desired. I wrote everything down and even gave Santa the page numbers, and off my letter went to the North Pole. My mother explained to me that Santa may not be able to bring everything on my list but he would pick out nice things for me. But he was Santa?!?? So I gave her a head nod and winked to the elves that were watching from behind the bushes to see if I was naughty or nice. They knew better, this was Santa afterall, he was magical and brought wonderful toys and gifts if you were a good kid. Aside from the occasional times that I made my brother dress up in a costume to entertain my friends and I, I was a good kid.

As the month of December rolled on, my mother would throw some money into the baskets of the bell ringers and she would donate some money to the church. Hmmm, but this was Santa, I didn’t understand. On the other side, I had friends who got elaborate play houses and giant barbie houses for the holidays. This just didn’t make sense to me.

So one day in the car as I was riding with my mother, I thought I would ask. Becuase you see riding in the car with my mother was the time that we had to talk. This sounds so wonderful and sweet but it wasn’t… because in a car, one is trapped, so my mother also used this as a time to discuss hard hitting issues that came later in life when I truly thought at the next red light, I was going to jump out and walk home. So why not hit her with something hard. “Mom, I have a question about Christmas?”

“Well honey, Santa brings the gifts, but the parents write him a check, so what you get is based on our budget” Ding Ding Ding I got it now. So began my understanding of a budget. I became very astute with the calculator and figured number of presents etc every year after that. When I went to New York City with my mother, I wanted to give to every homeless person on every street corner. We had to get money to these people so that they could write Santa a check for their kids.

So why am I telling you about a holiday budget. Well, times really haven’t changed and there are still parents out there who don’t have anything left in their account to write Santa a check but he would love to bring those kids wonderful gifts this year. So 21st Street Coffee and Tea, along with our customers, is going to write Santa a check. There is an organization in Pittsburgh, Goodfellows, that was started in 1947 by George Bond to give presents to children who needed them. What we are going to do is from Dec 12th -Dec 18th, we will be able to take a donation at the register. The minimum donation that we ask is a quarter. If everyone gave just one quarter as well as a contribution from 21st street Coffee, we would be able to make some kids really happy. We will ask at the register if you would like to donate a quarter to Goodfellows. You can certainly donate more or not at all. It is up to you and you may have already given all that you can this year, so there is no pressure. But we can combine our efforts and really make a nice donation so a few more people can enjoy the holidays.