See It: The Community being helped

The Angel Tree is an idea to help bring the members of our community together at Christmas. I worked with my girl scout troop of four to use resources from the community in order to make 58 baskets for area homebound and over 90 year-old parishioners in our church. We also delivered baskets to 29 nuns in the parish. We filled these Christmas baskets with toiletries, gifts, homemade cards, and treats. These baskets were delivered in person by our troop and teens from the Confirmation program in the church in order to have them all delivered around Christmas. We spent time with each person, so after all of the planning, communicating with all the deliverers, and actual delivery of these baskets, we ended involving those from the community and bringing Christmas cheer to all. In order to complete this project in a timely fashion, we used communication and dedication to coordinate the community. We used the fifth grade class at St. Mary’s parish to compile the baskets together. In order to purchase the materials needed to bake, we used money from our troop raised last year through a Christmas cookie sale. After baking, we added these treats to the baskets. We contacted Matt Bruce, head of the Confirmation program for St. Joes in Wauwatosa and St. Mary’s Elm Grove, and determined the number of small groups that we would have available to deliver baskets. We split up the groups accordingly, using the list from the church of 58 parishioners receiving these baskets. Finally, we delivered them. There were a few volunteers from the parish, but over 50 of the baskets were delivered by myself and my troop. Together, we bridged the generation gap, through the fifth graders, the confirmation teens, and the recipients of the Christmas baskets.