I had a wonderful opportunity this month to choose a charity that needed a Christmas tree and then decorate a tree donated by ChristmasTreeMarket.com.
I chose the Peel Family Shelter, a local shelter that provides safe, secure short-term accommodation to families that are in a housing crisis. After a few discussions with staff members, we decided to decorate the tree at a time when the kids from the shelter could help.
Here's the tree!
The people at the Peel Family Shelter chose this pencil tree out of the options given by Christmas Tree Market. There isn't a lot of space in their rec room (this tree is between 2 couches and just to the side of a bulletin board), so a pencil tree was the perfect choice!
I should have asked them to measure the height of their ceiling though, because the star didn't quite fit :)
We improvised though!
One thing I love about decorating Christmas trees with kids is that they just have a blast doing it! The tree isn't all uniformly decorated, but it's perfect, because the kids were the ones who did it.
I bought shatterproof ornaments so everything was safe. But that didn't mean the ornaments weren't fun! I got lots of glittery ornaments... kids love glitter :) And some characters and animals that the kids would like. And we donated some of our ornaments to help make it a fun kids' tree.
The middle got the most ornaments because that's where most of the kids could reach. And some of them are facing the wrong way. But to me (and these kids!) that's one of the things that makes this tree so beautiful.
I loved seeing the smiles on the kids' faces as they decorated. I don't know all their stories and why they're living in a family shelter this Christmas, but it was a treat to be able to be part of bringing them some joy, as they got to decorate this tree.
{I started trying to edit out all the bulletin board stuff and the surrounding furniture to make the tree pictures look prettier. But then I thought about it... this Christmas tree really represents what life is like for these families... Christmas is happening right in the midst of everything else in their lives. And they can't edit out the stuff they don't want. So I'm not editing everything out either!}
My hubby and kids came along to help too. It was a great experience for my kids to be able to interact with the kids at the shelter and to widen their perspective on life as we talked to them about why these kids might be living at the shelter. They had fun decorating, but even more than that, they enjoyed helping the kids at the shelter decorate!
Thank you Christmas Tree Market for the opportunity to be part of bringing joy to the families at the Peel Family Shelter this Christmas!
I'm proud to have been able to participate in Christmas Tree Market's "Christmas in the Community" project! I wish everyone at Peel Family Shelter a Merry Christmas!
Happy organizing!
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