An unforgettable Christmas: Christmas With Love 2011

Christmas is indeed a wonderful season- it sets the tone and mood to celebrate and thereafter usher in a new year. It is a time of fun, laughter, joy and love, endless trips to the stores and malls, parties and visiting family and friends. But we all tend to get carried away and lose our focus amidst the festivities; we often forget or overlook the true meaning of Christmas: the willingness to give without a thought of receiving anything in return.

There are many destitute, helpless families around us, children without hope, and elders yearning for a little bit of light, laughter and love. This Christmas, STITCH teamed up to give these dear ones a different Christmas, one they will never forget. This was the third consecutive year that we carried out the “Christmas with Love” Campaign and it was truly a memorable one. Our goal this year was to visit 10 homes, increase the number of gifts and donations collected and provide either milk or yogurt on each visit. The reason for the provision of yogurt/milk was so that we could spend more time with the Elders and Children and just talk and laugh with them. In addition, we organized a fundraising dinner and the proceeds of this dinner were entirely in aid of ten helpless, poverty-stricken families.

This year, we also had the opportunity to visit the Ratmalana School for the Deaf and it was indeed an unforgettable experience. The volunteers went out of their way to learn sign language, communicate with the children and sing a carol using the language. We spent the first 3 weeks of December visiting homes, gift shopping for each of the homes, and thereafter wrapping them, often in to the middle of the night. We could not have thought of a better way to spend Christmas. It was fun-filled and exciting, but then again one could not expect anything less when working with a group of young, enthusiastic, inspiring volunteers.

The smiles on the faces of those we helped, both young and old, were truly rewarding. Their happiness was truly a gift to us and their faces expressed deep gratitude, joy and love. We were content in knowing that they enjoyed every minute of our visit and their feeling of loneliness was lost. They were not forgotten.
We thank everyone who contributed towards this campaign, those who helped in many ways and those who took the time to share their love. STITCH could not have accomplished its goal without the help of its dedicated and truly inspiring volunteers.
Once again, we were able to make a difference during this season and we hope to do the same, and much more, next Christmas. We will continue our efforts and give many more out there, a meaningful Christmas: A Christmas with love.