Letter from the Director
Betsy Huggett
Season’s Greetings to All! I can’t believe the holidays are already upon us. We are 2 months into the new fiscal year and time seems to be flying by. We are busy with preparations for our upcoming Children’s Christmas Party, Board of Director’s December meeting, and our staff celebration. In doing all of these things, we keep in the forefront of our minds that there are families who are not together at the holidays and that things are sad at home. We do our best to make sure the holidays here for our in-house clients are safe, happy, and full of hope for the future. We couldn’t do any of these things without your help.
I would like to take a moment to ponder on some thoughts that always get to me this time of year. I miss home. I have lived in the same house for 12 years. It is my home with my husband and our animals. But what I miss is the nostalgia of my childhood home. I miss not falling asleep on Christmas Eve because Santa was coming. I miss my grandma sleeping on the sofa in our living room, facing the Christmas tree, and telling us kids to “get back in bed” when we would try to sneak a peek at 4:00am. I miss all of my brothers and me being under the same roof. I miss my mom and dad saying we can open presents after they have their coffee and then learning to make their coffee to hurry the process. I miss my cousins coming over to play games. I miss my dad playing his guitar and singing for us. That is Christmas and home for me. Whenever I hear, “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” I always get tears in my eyes.
The families who stay with us over the holidays do not have home for Christmas. Our families will forever have Diane Peppler Resource Center as part of their future Christmas stories. “Do you remember that time we stayed at the shelter for Christmas?” That is going to be part of someone’s forever Christmas memory. We have the opportunity to show these families the kindness that everyone deserves. These families are seeking a new normal for themselves. As they traverse through the difficult days ahead, hopefully they can put the painful days behind them and move forward into a brighter outlook.
We believe in the magic of Christmas. We believe if you have been good all year, Santa will bring you something special. We believe that Santa knows where you are, even if you are not at your home. We need some special people to be Santas for our clients. If you would like to help be part of someone’s Christmas story of their time at the shelter, please give me a call at (906) 635-0566. All Santas can apply.
