Dordan has been in Woodstock, IL, since the early 90s, but just became aware of it's Christmas Clearing House this year. Produced by the Woodstock Rotary Club, Christmas Clearing House is an impressive operation that delivers toys and meals to over 1,000 families, children, and elders in Woodstock and Wonder Lake. Hundreds of volunteers donate their time to the organization and execution of Christmas Clearing House, which ensures that no family goes with out a Merry Christmas.
Here's how it works: schools, volunteers and businesses collect and donate money and toys. All the toys are purchased and assembled in a warehouse, where volunteers unpack and segregate the toys by age group and gender. The segregated toys are then counted to determine how many gifts each family receives. Then volunteers are assigned to needy families, receiving corresponding demographics, and move through the warehouse collecting appropriate toys. The following day donated and purchased food is boxed up for the same families, to be delivered by more volunteers on "delivery day." This year delivery day is Saturday, December 16th. Here is a video of the whole operation:
Above: Volunteers unpack and sort toys
Above: Sorted toys are stacked for counting
Above: Counted toys are placed in big gaylords for volunteers to collect for families
Above: TOYS!
Rotary Club's motto is "service above self;" Christmas Clearing House is service above self manifested, to the delight of hundreds of families. It was truly wonderful to be able to participate in this incredible effort, made possible only through the selfless acts of hundreds of volunteers. While this is the first year that Dordan participated in Christmas Clearing House, it will not be the last. Dordan looks forward to making more of an impact next year as it continues to become more engaged with the local community. Thank you, Rotary Club, for allowing me to spread Christmas cheer this year! Learn more about Christmas Clearing House here.
