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I’ll be home for Christmas,
You can count on me,
Please bring snow and mistletoe,
And presents under the tree.
The song “I’ll be Home for Christmas,” originally recorded by Bing Crosby, relates common wishes for the holiday season. Unfortunately, not all kids get to see “presents under the tree.” Many children take for granted that they find ornately wrapped toys under their Christmas trees on the morning of December 25th. Because of financial issues, some underprivileged kids do not get to enjoy such an experience. While some children expect Apple devices and laptop computers from their parents, some can barely afford simple dolls.
There are, of course, always ways to help out those who need it. This holiday season, through good-will donations, adopt-a-family events, and hair donation centers you can help people who are in need. Organizations like Locks for Love, LifeSouth, and Red Cross do everything they can to make sure kids everywhere get to have fun on Christmas morning.
Among these acts of good will toward men, the student-run Bob Jones club, Citizens of the World, has recently wrapped up a toy drive for the Boys & Girls Club of Huntsville, Alabama. The toy donations were brought by the club founders to the organization on Friday, December 6th.
Over the holiday season, those in need are hit harder than ever, due to the obligations to spend money on gifts and combat the cold. According to cheritynavigator.org, the average American spends roughly $800 during the holiday season. The National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness reported that the national poverty rate rose to 13.2% in 2012. Some families already have a heard time paying for food to eat. Gifts and Christmas are things that some families have hard times affording.
The fantasy scenes plastered all over stores and media hardly help the social gap between families who can afford Christmas and those who can’t. “Children who are underprivileged must feel bad when other children get more that they do, like society doesn’t care for them, which isn’t true,” speculates Sarah Bignault, a Bob Jones senior. While the numbers of families who fall below the poverty line rise, there are many more who still manage to scrape just above the poverty line are unable to pay for the holidays that their children desire.
“We have so much here, that we often times forget about those who don’t,” says Mrs. Huskey, the sponsor of the Citizens of the World Club, proud of the students coming together to help others. After all, it’s one thing to donate when bribed, but it’s completely different when a group of students acts for the sake of helping others.
The club isn’t finished yet. One of the three founders of Citizens of the World, David Gunther, reports that the club is trying to help out with some other toy drives and distributions before Christmas. “I think it’s wonderful that they took this on,” says Alyx Benedict, a senior at Bob Jones.
I’ll be home for Christmas,
Where the love light be,
I’ll be home for Christmas,
If only in my dreams.
Unaided, many family’s Christmas experiences would only be possible in dreams. However, because of charities and donations that organizations like Citizens of the World has hosted, those holidays can become much brighter.
