If it's not freezing (which for Floridians...that could mean a frigid 50 degrees), then it's common to hear "It doesn't really feel like the holidays".
This melancholy feeling plagued our staff and many of us shook it off as "just another year".
And then...a holiday miracle happened:
The News-Press ran a story on one of our Q families that is homeless. The story gave an inside look of two boys, a mother, and a young girl who humbly requested the reunion of her parents for Christmas. When further pushed to describe a more tangible Christmas wish, she simply requested a pencil.
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| Courtesy of www.news-press.com |
A pencil.
This story brought to tears to many of the readers that read this Christmas wish, including our staff members.
We were overwhelmed with emotion because we were reminded of the realities that many of our children face. Daily, we see these children. We hug them, we teach them, we redirect them, we protect them...we love them. For many of the students we serve, Quality Life Center is a safe haven. It is a place to be a child.
Behind their smiles, these children are often facing hardships. Often times, it is hard for us to even fathom what our kids could and are facing.
That's why this holiday season was incredibly special to us.
There was a plethora of love from the community. Donors not only wanted to give to the family, but also to our children. Our children received toys, school supplies...even gingerbread kits! We are thankful for all of the companies and organizations that contributed to both the Ruwinski family and the rest of the Quality Life Center kids!
Did we mention our teens also conducted a toy drive for Golisano Children's Hospital? As people were giving to Quality Life Center's children, Quality Life Center children were thinking of how they could do their part in giving back. It was truly beautiful to watch our children create, plan and implement this project.
A sense of love is felt throughout "The Q" on a daily basis. But today, it was overwhelming.
As we welcomed students to the Holiday Room...
As we celebrated the accomplishments of those children who exceeded their Read-A-Thon goal...
As we watched overwhelmed students make careful present decisions...
And as we watched students leave with smiles that spanned from cheek to cheek...
We couldn't help but welcome the Holiday Spirit into Quality Life Center today.
The holidays for us are less about receiving and more about giving. It is about giving our time, our efforts and our love to the children whom we serve.
This holiday season and every day, we give children the gift of opportunity.
The gift of opportunity allows children to develop self-confidence, discover their inner strengths and use them to enhance the community. We see this through our teens in our Teen Program, who used their individual strengths to create, plan and implement a toy drive for Golisano Children's Hospital. They made us very proud!
So...
Although there's no Winter Wonderland here...
We are still celebrating the joy of community and the joy of giving, as we celebrate the Holiday Season.
Happy Holidays!
Contributor: Shari Armstrong
sarmstrong@qlcswfl.org
Quality Life Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization transforming the community by developing the potential of at-risk youth, and instilling values of discipline, integrity and self-sufficiency. To learn more about Quality Life Center, to sign up for the next tour date, or to make a donation, call 239.334.2797 or visit http://www.qualitylifecenter.org.
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