Give a Little Christmas

Every winter we hear a lot of talk about the “season of giving” and we rush around buying and wrapping pretty new things for our family and friends. Our debit cards sigh as we put them back in our wallets at the end of a long day. But what about the folks who don’t have the ability to buy those gifts?

I never had much growing up, but we never did without. As an adult, I have climbed above that poverty line and my kids have much more than they need, but I know how it felt to pinch pennies, cut corners, even pay a bill late in order to buy a small gift for my kids. Those years while we were building our life without support were harder than I hope they ever know.

It was during those years that Give A Little Christmas was born. My best friend and fellow editor, Krys, was interviewing a friend for our previous magazine when he mentioned Santa Claus. He said he had always wanted to give presents to homeless children with his long white beard and his rosy-cheeked wife. Krys ran with it and helped Glenn and Dottie Tubb start making plans. I will never forget our first event. Joey doesn’t climb out of bed easily and he had a particularly rough fall, recovering from a crushed hand. I had lost a lot of my odd jobs to his physical therapy and we had all been in a bit of a funk. That morning I told the boys that we had to go sing for a bunch of kids and help Santa give them presents. I still have never seen Joey jump out of bed so quickly.

Our boys came alive when they met Santa and Mrs. Claus. They immediately went to work wrapping, distributing and helping however they could. Joey kept serving the Clauses plates of cookies and cups of milk. They glowed. That was the day I finally understood the spirit of giving, as it illuminated my children.

Over the last seven years, Give A Little Christmas (GAL for short) has changed and grown into a blossoming 501c3. Glenn and Dottie had to retire for health reasons, I became the assistant director and our boys eventually learned the truth about the North Pole: it’s actually Southern. Elves are frequently long-haired teenage boys with slight drawls who look very cute in their fuzzy red hats. GAL serves parts of Wilson, Davidson and Rutherford counties, collecting and distributing toys for families who rarely qualify for any other assistance. We service families with sudden life emergencies of all sizes from income loss due to totaled cars and unexpected injury expenses to big life emergencies like severe health problems, house fires, domestic violence and more. This Christmas we already have over 160 kids signed up.

How The Elves Work

1. Collect! We host toy drives all over and all the time. We even have toy drives in the summer, a list of confirmed drives is included here.

2. Wrap! We throw wrapping parties where “elves” help us wrap the donations and label and bag them for distribution.

3. Party! We throw a big party for the kids to come meet Santa. Not all families can attend, but those who do receive large black bags out the back door while the kids are entertained. This way they wake to toys under their tree without us having to slide down every chimney.

4. Adopt! We welcome companies and organizations to adopt entire families. We especially like to adopt them out when the families have special-needs children whose gifts are rarely in the donation bins.

5. Get Ready For Next Year! We have a donation page where individuals and companies can opt to contribute monthly to our cause. Santa works all year and we do, too.

As a special bonus, all contributions of time, gifts and money are qualifying donations and can get you a nice tax write-off or those much-needed volunteer hours.

To have a box at your business, email givealittlechristmas@gmail.com

Want to be an elf? Visit givealittlenashville.com/give-alittle-christmas

Story by Assistant Director of GAL, Olivia West, Photos Courtesy of Give a Little (GAL)