12 Years of Christmas Miracles

Chapter 649 members who delivered the Christmas gift cards in 2021 to veterans’ families in need. Front: Don Sheppard, Bobby Bennett, Michael Newman, Joyce Newman. Rear: Phil Dodge, Mark Brandon, Joel Foreman, John Mattingly. Photo: Ken Williamson

BY KEN WILLIAMSON

Clermont County, Ohio, Chapter 649 has provided Christmas assistance to needy local veterans and their families since 2010 when Board member Steve Tam chaired the newly created Christmas Committee. “The members worked hard that first year making contacts and setting up collection locations,” Tam said. “In early fall, canned goods donated by members and local schools began arriving.”

With Christmas 2010 just days away, local businesses jumped in and donated hams, turkeys, and other food items. Chapter members contributed more than $200 through collections taken up at chapter meetings, and more money came from the chapter’s annual golf outing, retail outlet fundraisers, and the county fair.

That first year Chapter 649 provided three boxes of food and a $300 gift card to six veterans and their families. The following year the chapter made a few changes to the program and increased the number of families to seven. The names of the recipients and who recommended them have always remained anonymous.

Over the years the program has grown and changed. Chapter 649 no longer collects food items. The number of veterans helped has increased to ten, but has been as many as twelve. Currently each family receives a $250 grocery store gift card and a $250 VISA gift card. Chapter members deliver the cards to the families at a prearranged time. The members meet at a central location and are assigned locations for delivery.

A Chapter 649 member who delivered gifts had this to say about his experience: “One woman, the widow of a Vietnam veteran Agent Orange victim, was very appreciative.” Another said: “Some recipients are surprised by the amount of the gift.” A third added: “At one house, all four children came to the door and thanked us.” One veteran said he had just lost his job and the gift would save his family’s Christmas.

Recipients often send thank-you notes in which they tell the chapter about their Christmas. One family wrote: “Thank you for helping my kids and me for Christmas. Thanks to you we had plenty of toys, food, and I was even able to get them both new beds. I want you to know how much you did for us.”

Another family wrote: “We want to send you our most sincere thanks for the great gifts and help. This was a very hard year for our family. We were so worried about the holidays coming and having nothing for our children. VVA made that fear go away. To see their faces on Christmas Day when they came downstairs and saw our tree littered with gifts underneath—it was breathtaking. Our children are the most important thing to us, and knowing that they will have a Christmas to remember was very special to us. The generosity of your organization was a Christmas miracle.”

Maybe the annual gifts are simply an example of veterans helping veterans. Maybe Chapter 649 repeats the event annually because it fulfills the mission: “Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another.” Or maybe the twelve years of gifts have all been Christmas miracles to those who have received them.

2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016
2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012
2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008
2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004
2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000