Giving is better

By Mint Barber, T-H Correspondent

December 04, 2008 10:28 pm

— Christmas had another holiday shopping event on Wednesday when RSVP held its annual Little Elves Workshop. Daviess County’s RSVP program headed by Susan Ballengee initiated the event in 2000 to demonstrate the true meaning of Christmas- that of giving to others.
Head Start children of Daviess County — 60 from Washington, 20 from Odon and 14 home-based children earn play money from the start of school up until now to spend on their parents or caregivers. They are rewarded with the play money for good behavior — helping, listening, and being kind to others. On the day of the workshop they bring their “money,” about three to five play paper bills, to Washington’s Community Building where they shop.
On Wednesday, they were excited to spend the money they had earned. Big eyes and big smiles were everywhere, including the volunteers. One volunteer assists each child with picking out the items, paying the cashier and proceeding to the wrapping station.
The child’s name tag gives their first name along with who they are buying for. One aisle was full of pink and purple and silver and gold presents. This was the aisle of eye-catching gifts just for the moms. The next row was full of masculine items meant for dads. Children perused each aisle making sure they hadn’t missed anything before making their final selection.
RSVP co-chairs Arlene Sobecki and Jane Neeley spent weeks before the event shopping, where they purchased the gifts with a grant from the Daviess County Community Foundation. Wrapping paper, bows and gift bags were donated by Washington Towers.
On the day of the workshop, 25 RSVP volunteers helped the children choose the perfect gift for mom and dad, wrap their treasures and talked to the children about keeping the present a secret. After shopping, the children enjoyed a Christmas story told by another volunteer.
One of those volunteers was Mike Traylor, a retired high school teacher. This was his first year to volunteer and he said, “It’s good to be here around kids again.”
Traylor said he knew early on he wanted to be a teacher. So even after retiring he’s still fulfilling his need to be around children by volunteering. RSVP thought it would be a good idea to have some male volunteers since they had so many little boys shopping too.
Ballengee said, “the kids love it. It teaches them skills such as earning money, paying a cashier for their purchases, and most importantly, it’s better to give than to receive.”
Madison, a little girl from the first group of children, said it was going to be easy to keep it a secret, she was going to hide the gifts in her room.
Kaden picked out a beautiful watch for his mom and gloves and a scarf for his dad. He thought he would probably end up giving them their presents before Christmas.
Indica thought she would not have a problem keeping it a secret. She picked out a watch for her dad and a scarf and hat for her mom. When asked, a pair of roller skates was the only thing she could think of she wanted.
The children then proceeded to a circle around the Christmas tree where the story teller was getting ready to read the Christmas story before heading back to school.

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