Wish List 2022 is in the books, folks! And what a year it was: 113 clients received over 400 gifts this Christmas because of our generous Elves.
There are many individuals and groups of people from our communities who can be counted on every year to help make client’s holidays cheerful, including quite a lot of our own staff. And there are those who are participating for the first time, who we hope loved it and are planning on making it a yearly tradition.
Not everything always goes as planned, however, and this year there was an unexpected tragedy. One of our clients who was patiently waiting for presents under the tree, passed away unexpectedly, just days before the holiday. Her name was Brittany Flora, and she passed peacefully at home at the young age of 33. We are grateful for the time she was with us and will miss her personality and energy.
A woman named Jackie heard about our Wish List Program on a local radio station this year and decided to choose someone to shop for as a tribute to her late sister, Sheila, and as a thank you to ADEC. Sheila was with ADEC from the age of 18 until the age of 52, when she passed away in 2017. Jackie chose gifts with care, and drove from Michigan to deliver them to us, and we are so grateful.
Another woman saw a story about Wish List on the news, and when she went online to choose someone to purchase gifts for, she saw the name of a former student of hers! She not only gave gifts to her former student through Wish List but is also now interested in volunteering to be able to spend time with her in the future.
One of our employees, upon realizing three clients had not been added to the Wish List, took it upon herself, two days before Christmas, to shop for them, wrap the gifts, and deliver them with almost no time to spare. People like this do exist in the world, and a high percentage of them work here.
These are just a few stories from this year, but there are so many more. Every year is a lesson in kindness, humility, and enduring love. Due to the people who give, and the people we serve, everyone here at ADEC is able to step forward into a new year both remembering those we lost, while knowing that there will always be goodness and hope to look forward to.
We are so grateful for all of your generous, giving natures. Thank you to all of our Wish List elves and have a Happy New Year! Let’s do it all again for Christmas 2023.
