Cookie Love, Part Dough.

Recently I have had a couple of people ask me how the Laundry Love Christmas party went. Now I realize that December is over but let’s just consider this a late gift if you will. Maybe a little extra holiday joy to brighten up our January.

First of all I would like to extend a huge thanks to all of those who brought food and helped make the evening possible.  In fact, we had so much food that at the end of the evening we were able to bag it up for people to take with them as left overs.

 Also a shout out to all the volunteers who helped make it possible, including the vocal quartet that sang for us and those who helped with the children’s crafts. Yes, we had a barber shop quarter sing for us. We did change the lyrics of some songs to fit the evening though. Such as “We Wash You a Merry Christmas”, “Santa Ana Clause is Coming to Town” and “The Little Dryer Boy.” Okay I am kidding about  that but it would have been awesome. Needless to say though, there was much Cheer.

The evening was fun and those in attendance enjoyed the holiday touch and as I sat and watched something struck me.  Here were the homeless and poor, the down trodden and weary, and yet there was an air of joy and peace throughout the evening. Now I could make a poignant statement about the true meaning of Christmas, but I prefer to let the obvious speak for its self.

A couple of stories in particular stand out. One couple brought two small trees to decorate. They also brought kid’s craft to make ornaments and some small stockings to decorate as well. The kids spent the evening coloring and cutting out various ornaments and hanging them on the trees while their parents did the laundry. Near the end of the evening they gave one tree to the Laundromat and one to a family in need. It was a nice touch to the evening and I hope it brought joy to their family.

 The other story is about a young couple, let’s call them Steve and Joanne, who are struggling financially through the holidays and did not have much to celebrate this year. However, their faces lit up when they saw the small stockings and they asked if they could each have one to write their names on.   That way, they explained, they could go home, hang them up and have some small way of celebrating with each other. It wasn’t much, just two small, generic red stockings. So small in fact, that if I had gotten it as a kid I probably would have laughed. But here it was different.  Here even just the smallest act made a huge impact in Steve and Joanne’s lives, and maybe that is all it really comes down to.

On Christmas day I thought about Laundry Love. I thought about my friends Paula, Chris, Michelle , Ron and a few others who are homeless and have nowhere to go at the Holidays. While I over ate and then ate some more, I hoped that somewhere they got a decent Christmas meal, but for all I know the cookies and hot chocolate we had could be the only Christmas meal they got.

I wished I could help them more. I can’t give them a job, or a place to live. I can’t put them back on their feet like they so desperately desire. I can give them my friendship and concern, which is more then they get from most people. I can also give them clean clothes and the dignity and respect it brings and I think that if it really is the little things that make a difference then at least for now, that is enough.

I hope you have a great new year everyone!

Check out Jeff’s other weirdness at www.jeffjordan.wordpress.com