After last year's fantastic Christmas Caroling, I was stoked to sing again! But this year ~ with our RACK It! project in full swing ~ we turned the caroling into a food drive! The boys passed out flyers three days prior with pictures of the kids caroling last year and notice that we'd be collecting for the Bellingham Food Bank, and we thought: "Let's see how it goes!" I had no idea we'd meet such generosity!! As I drove into our neighborhood tonight, I got teary-eyed as I noticed the many front porches already hosted bags awaiting pick-up! And we hadn't even sung a note!
Neighborhood kids gathered at 6:00 at our house for cocoas, a holiday treat and rehearsal! Last year during rehearsal we discovered that - as a group - we could really only belt out "Jingle Bells" and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas." But this year, we were easily able to add "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" and "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer!" What a treat! (Trust me, even to the kids "Jingle Bells" over and over - 23 houses! - gets old!)
Hats and antlers on and jingle bells in hand, we headed out in the drizzling rain (that I don't think a single kid even noticed) to spread Christmas cheer!
Far Back: Collin (you can barely see his reindeer anters back there!)
Middle Row: Abby, Naomi, Kate, Owen, Kate (can't see her but you can see her antlers above Trevor!), Trevor, Jackson, Corey
Front Row: Laura, Eli, Natalie
Eli rode in the wagon for the first half of the route ... but it started to fill with donated food quickly!
Kate was on a mission! She especially enjoyed collecting the bags of food. "Thank you!!"
Eli got to the top of each set of steps just as each song was ending. "Where'd everybody go?!"
I just thought this was terrific:
*You'd never guess, but after she got home, Kate threw up three times. Oh golly! But she didn't let on until our task was complete ... the kids seriously were having such a blast! They got a kick out of the idea that their "fun" was going to help others in need. It didn't hardly even add up! You could almost see the gears turning: "If helping is this much fun, we can do it every day!" Exactly. RACK It Food Drive = Success!
In the end, we collected nearly five "Costco-sized" boxes of food to donate! Thank you, Neighbors, for your generosity and for helping us to teach our children to give, to serve, and to appreciate. And thank you, Kids, for your holiday spirit, your fun-loving energy, and for making a memory with me!
**UPDATE: We collected 150 pounds of food for the Whatcom Food Bank! That's awesome!!**
Neighborhood kids gathered at 6:00 at our house for cocoas, a holiday treat and rehearsal! Last year during rehearsal we discovered that - as a group - we could really only belt out "Jingle Bells" and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas." But this year, we were easily able to add "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" and "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer!" What a treat! (Trust me, even to the kids "Jingle Bells" over and over - 23 houses! - gets old!)
