"(A) few of us are endeavoring to raise a fund to buy the Poor some meat and drink and means of warmth,” a man says to Ebenezer Scrooge at the beginning of Charles Dickens’ classic story of the Christmas Spirit: “A Christmas Carol.”
“We choose this time, because it is a time, of all others, when Want is keenly felt, and Abundance rejoices. What shall I put you down for?" the fictional holiday volunteer asked.
Scrooge, of course, famously gave nothing. But, while most folks are busily wrapping up holiday plans, buying, wrapping and unwrapping Christmas presents, many on St. Croix and throughout the territory are giving time, labor, money and gifts to help out those less fortunate.
Rotary Clubs, church groups and nonprofit organizations have been very active throughout the season and will continue. Rotary Club of St. Croix is inviting Rotarians and everyone else to join them and help feed the homeless on Sunday at noon in Christiansted’ Christian “Shan” Hendricks Vegetable Market.
“We anticipate that we will feed between 85 to 100 people,” said Rotarian Jim Oliver, urging St. Croix residents to come out.
If, like Scrooge, you’ve been awakened to the meaning of the season and would like to experience the sense of fulfillment that comes from helping others, come out and lend a hand. You can send an e-mail to Oliver at joliver911@aol.com for more information.
The V.I. Department of Human Services helps the less fortunate day-in and day-out, all year round, but gets especially busy for the holidays. As over Thanksgiving, the department is helping individual families hold their own holiday and Christmas dinners by giving donated food and gift certificates for groceries.
“We gave the whole meal; the food and such to 59 families over Thanksgiving and another 19 families we gave gift certificates to, and right now it is looking about the same for Christmas,” Human Services Commissioner Chris Finch said earlier in the week. “Donations of food and of gift certificates have been coming in, so we will be able to help about 75-80 families,” he said.
Human Services is doing similar activities on St. Thomas, but those numbers are for St. Croix alone, he said.
The families they help are all clients of Human Services in one capacity or another, whether through child care programs, juvenile justice or other programs, Finch said.
“We are just checking wherever there are families in need,” he said.
Plaza Extra grocery stores sell gift certificates, which provide a really convenient and easy way to help out, Finch said. “People usually buy them in amounts from $20 to $100 – and obviously bigger is better,” he said.
Those imbued with the Christmas spirit can bring food or gift certificates to Human Service’s intervention office at Anna’s Hope.
Those gifts of Christmas dinners have already been given out, but readers can still help, he said.
“There are needy people after Christmas as well,” he said. “We don’t stop.”
These few upcoming items just scratch the surface of all the good deeds being done this season.
Santa delivered many smiles this past Sunday as the Rotary Clubs of St. Croix and Harborside held their fourth annual "Christmas In The Park" party for homeless children and adults from Catholic Charities and the Bethlehem House Shelter. Last weekend, employees of the Frederiksted Health Center donated gifts to children in the pediatric ward at Gov. Juan F. Luis Hospital over weekend. The Lighthouse Mission threw a Christmas party for its homeless clients on Dec. 12. On Dec. 2, the St. Croix Hotel Association and Chamber of Commerce held its annual “Holiday Hope” benefit, giving out toys donated to the U.S. Marine Corps Toys for Tots program.
This is no exhaustive list of good deeds: Catholic Charities, Lutheran Social Services and many other faith-based organizations have been busy spreading cheer throughout the season. And there is no way to know how many small, private acts of kindness have been committed or how much of what Shakespeare first called “the milk of human kindness,” has been consumed this season.
