In the spirit of giving

By: Anita Shelburne | The Daily Progress
Published: December 25, 2008

On this day of glad tidings, let us revisit some moments of Christmas compassion right here in our community.

The spirit of giving knows no age limit.

Eight-year-old Alexandra LaCour of Charlottesville doesn’t want anything for Christmas — except a chance to give. She asked to receive all the money that her parents would have spent on her presents and then gave the sum to PACEM, which organizes shelter for homeless people in area churches.

She said that her mother asked her “a million times” if she was going to be sad on to receive nothing on Christmas morning (“8-year-old eschews presents, insists upon shelter donation,” The Daily Progress, Dec. 20).

No, said Alexandra. “I picked this. I really hope it makes someone else’s Christmas better.”

At age 15, aspiring R&B singer Sherice Wood already has organized and performed at two fundraising concerts, turning the money over to help from Charlottesville to Fluvanna.

She put on the concerts at Fluvanna High School with two friends Erech Wills, 15, and Tyree Young, 18.

This is despite — or perhaps because of — the needs in her own life. Her family left their home in Hampton a couple of years ago to move to Albemarle. Her mother had surgery and suffers recurring and prolonged anemia as a result, leaving Sherice to care for the family.

“She often cares for me and her brother and sister and she still keeps up her grades and her music,” Victoria Woodson said. “Our family situation isn’t as good as it was in Hampton and she’s given up a lot, but she’s not concerned about her Christmas. She just wants to help as many people as possible, especially people she knows” (“Giving the gift of music,” Dec. 22).

The Charlottesville chapter of the Red Hat Society — women of “a certain age” who celebrate their stage in life — decided some time ago that they wanted to help others. This holiday season, social services linked them with an elderly, disabled Albemarle County couple.

When the group’s president, Sandy Russell, asked what the couple needed, “the first thing [the husband] said was, ‘We need food,’ ” she said recently, shaking her head in disbelief. “Most of the time, [people] say they need clothes” (The Daily Progress, Dec. 23).

Group members have paid the couple’s heating bill and provided grocery gift certificates. They plan to expand their efforts to help the couple not just as Christmas, but through the year.

And then there are the hundreds of donors who contribute to the annual Santa Fund. This fund quietly assists area schoolchildren throughout the year with necessities such as clothing or medicine. Heartwarming gifts, from $5 to thousands of dollars, are donated in honor of beloved family members, cherished pets or simply anonymously.

The Santa Fund allows everyone to participate in the compassion of the season (mail gifts to Santa Fund, 806 E. High St., Charlottesville, VA 22902).