Signal Mountain residents have the opportunity to play Santa with Signal Mountain Social Services Saturday, Dec. 10, when the agency and members of the community gather to pack and deliver boxes full of gifts and food for mountain residents in need. The group will meet at Nolan Elementary at 9 a.m.
Packing and delivering food and gifts for Signal Mountain residents served by Signal Mountain Social Services is an annual tradition for many families in the community. Volunteers will meet at Nolan Elementary Saturday, Dec. 10 at 9 a.m., where they will be assigned a family to pack for and can select from items donated to SMSS."I just love that the whole community comes together," said Lara Caughman, former director of SMSS, of the annual event to pack and deliver Christmas boxes that her family has attended for the more than a decade. "It's become an important part of our holiday tradition."
"It's the thing that gets our family into the Christmas spirit of giving," said Kim Thorstenson, who has participated with her family for the past six years. "It puts them in a great mindset to go into the Christmas holiday - to be thinking about other people instead of just what they're getting."
SMSS Executive Director Mary Lee Ziebold said many families in the community participate every year.
"I think it helps remind [my children] that they have a personal responsibility to help the people around them have a better life," said Caughman. "It shows them they can have an impact."
Ziebold said around 100 volunteers are needed to pack and deliver boxes to around 50 families, all of whom live on Signal Mountain.
Around 70 families helped out last year, said Caughman.
Participants are assigned a family to pack for when they arrive at Nolan and are given the ages of the children in the family to "shop" for from items donated to SMSS, she said.
"They can really identify with the kids," said Thorstenson of her three daughters, ages 17, 14 and 9. "They essentially go shop for them in the cafeteria, and they really feel like they're getting them something special."
Contact SMSS at 886-5982.