As I write this it is night at the Inn, and it is indeed silent – not something that happens very often in the daytime hours! I have stayed late to catch up on a variety of things, including updating our poor website, which has suffered from neglect for the last few months.
There is no question that the period of time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is the busiest, most hectic, most tiring, and most emotional of the entire year. Talk about highs and lows! HIGH – during this time a much larger volume of donations of food, clothing, household items, etc. come pouring in the building. Our pantry becomes well-stocked – for a while – and we have good supplies to meet the needs of those who need food, coats, furniture, food, diapers, and more. LOW – Our staff and volunteers are run ragged carrying, sorting, and storing the excess, rooms and hallways become cluttered with excess as storage space fills up. HIGH – while it is a tremendous amount of work, it is also a tremendous joy to see how the community responds to our Christmas families and goes all out to make sure all of our children have a good Christmas, families have “turkey with all the trimmings” for their holiday feast, and parties and fun events for our clients abound. LOW – no matter how many presents they get or parties they attend or how many kind people reach out to make a difference for them, for many of our clients this is a terribly lonely, sad, and difficult time. Life problems of poverty, homelessness, anxiety seem to be magnified even more in the glare of holiday lights, pretty wrapped packages and smiling faces.
I could go on and on, but suffice it to say that by the time we get to Christmas day our staff and clients are all feeling a bit wrung out. So, we’ll be closed a few extra days over Christmas and New Years while everyone around here takes some time to hang out and catch our breath.
On behalf of the Inn, we wish all of you a very blessed holiday season; joy and good health for you and your loved ones; the blessings of a job, a safe home, and personal dignity. We hope you’ll partner with us in continuing to “do good” for our community in 2012.
