Volunteers for the 5th Annual Kids Shopping Day held on Saturday, December 12, at the Peace United Church of Christ in Gladbrook.

Best Yet Kids Shopping Day!

Wow, the 5th annual Kids Shopping Day was a huge success. The weather was warm and dry, and, finally, “Kids Black Saturday” arrived. The shoppers were lined up and ready to make out their shopping list for their loved ones even before 9 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 12th, at Peace Church.

We are just amazed at how the people in our community support KSD year after year. It’s become a valued part of our Christmas celebrations.

The Gladbrook American Legion Auxiliary Children & Youth Committee, Karen Pieper, Jeanne Paustian, and Becky Fish chaired the project with help from Gladbrook area churches, organizations, & individuals. Everyone working together created an opportunity for our area children to “shop” this Christmas. With thousands of items donated by the community we were able to create a “Christmas Store” where the kids choose just the right gifts for their family without any exchange of money.

More than 130 children waited for their turn to search for the perfect gift to give to 8-10 family members. Multiply number of gifts given by each shopper, times the number of shoppers, and we know over 1,000 gifts went home to area families. The children came from all around our area, Garwin, Marshalltown, Reinbeck, Green Mountain, Melbourne.. and, of course, many from Gladbrook and Lincoln too. When we asked those out-of-towners how they knew about our KSD one child said, “Oh, my Grandma told me all about it.” Its for sure that there was a gift for her grandma in the cloth bag that hung over her arm.

Children visit with one of the “Ladies of Bethlehem”. The Ladies of Bethlehem had a picture and told the nativity story to each child as they left their shopping experience. Each child received a manger scene as their gift.

Parents patiently waited for their children in the sanctuary of the church.

They enjoyed the Christmas carols, viewing the beautiful decorations, and refreshments hosted by Pastor Robert Doner.

Volunteers helped the younger children shop even babies. Many of the children were all smiles as they knew they had picked out the perfect gift for their moms, dads, etc. Other volunteers helped the children wrap their gifts and make out gift tags. Each tag stated “Jesus Loves You”. (A special thank you to Joyce Bern who made over 1400 gift tags) When the shoppers left their “treasures” were ready to be put under the tree.

Each shopper visited the “Ladies of Bethlehem”, Rev. Carol Kress and Becky Fish, to view a picture of and hear the nativity story and receive a manger scene as their gift.

There are some funny, some sentimental, and some sweet stories to share about our Kids Shopping Day.

Jodi Betts, at right of picture, helps the kids get their shopping experience underway.

A funny story-When Jeanne returned to work at Peace Church , she found a garbage bag of trash instead of treasures for the shoppers. We decided that was a “man” mistake! He probably got the bags mixed up and the KSD got the garbage and the trash can got the treasurers!!!!!

A sentimental story-One item unpacked was a Moeller Produce syrup pitcher. Moeller Produce was a business in Gladbrook until 1967. Needless to say we checked the museum to see if we had that pitcher. Someone asked what was that number on the pitcher “PH 49”. How the phone numbers have changed over the years!

A sweet story-As one of the Ladies from Bethlehem was telling a child that Jesus loved her, the youngster said, “Hey, I know a song about that!” She just started singing Jesus Loves Me, and five or six others around her (adults and kids) joined together to finish the song. As I looked around, there was a big smile on every face.

An abundance of our good Gladbrook-Lincoln folks contributed in countless ways to this year’s KSD. Individuals, our local churches, and the Legion Auxiliary worked together beautifully to serve the children and families in our area. A very special thank you to everyone that donated items or gave monetary donations for the Christmas Store; the guys that helped get the church ready, the many volunteers that helped set up the store, 40 plus people that helped on shopping day, and the guys that came back to put the church back to normal. The sparkle in the children’s eyes told us they appreciated everything. We needed each and every one of you in order to pull everything together. THANKS so much to each of you.

Tired and happy kids left for home with a large bag of gifts for loved ones in their hands, plus a seed, containing the awareness of our loving Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, in their souls.

Area youth had the chance to shop at no cost for their family members. More than 130 children shopped on the 5th Annual Kids Shopping Day.

Many of the items that were left were boxed up and taken to Westbrook Acres. The residents will shop this week for their loved ones. Their gifts will be wrapped as well.

It is never too early to start a box as the committee has decided to sponsor the 6th annual Kids Shopping Day on Dec. 10th, 2016. Merry Christmas to all!

Merry Christmas, EVERYONE.