Wrapping presents

Coins for Kids was back on this year.  This is an organization that buys Christmas gifts for kids that wouldn't get them otherwise.  Donations are collected throughout the year and then volunteers go to Walmart and, using a list, buy families what they are in need of.  

In years past, we have done the shopping.  We will go to the Bloomington Walmart and shop for at least 1 family.  Some years we have had time to shop for 2 families.  It is kind of crazy though because there are so many people that is really crowded and hard to find things.  This year I didn't want to do the shopping.  I was finished with my Christmas shopping and didn't want to fight Christmas shopping crowds.  But I did want to help somehow so I decided to help with wrapping the presents.

Courtney decided to go with me and we went to the Dixie Center bright and early at 8:15 am to help wrap gifts.  Hayley, her mom, and her sister were also there so we snagged a wrapping table next to them.

We were given 2 big garbage bags full of toys/clothes/gifts for a family.  We had to sort the gift by individual and then we had to balance things out and make sure they had gotten the things they wanted and needed.  There were tables of extra toys, blankets, and clothes that we could choose from.  Courtney and I then went to town wrapping.  When we finished we had to put everything back into the garbage bags and raise our hand so a runner could come and grab that bag.  They then asked us if we wanted to do another family.  We ended up wrapping for 2 families.  We were starting on a third family when a girl came to tell us that the bags had been separated and so her family was wrapping for the family we had started wrapping for (did that make sense?).  So we decided we had been there long enough (1 3/4 hours) and we left.  

It was a lot of fun though because we knew we were helping people in the community. It helped, too, that they had snacks and sodas. haha!