One of the great things about being on radio all over the country is being able to hear what is happening all across the USA and indeed the world. In this Christmas season, I have been impressed with two amazing “spirits of Christmas.”
I was pleasantly surprised in a good way as it was told to me by Earle Farrell of KWAM of Memphis, Tennessee. The Shelby County Police Department has traffic stops. Any of us who have been stopped know the dread of getting stopped and receiving a ticket. Not this Christmas season, though.
They have been doing what they call “Blue Christmas” in other years as well. According to Memphis.com, this is what happens: “Deputies stopped drivers and volunteers would show up at the scene with Christmas gifts for their children.” These gifts are the work of a group called the “Secret Order of Boll Weevils.”
One person had given the officers $100 in $20 increments to give out to people who appeared in need. According to Channel 5’s WMCAction News, in Memphis, “Deputies would pull over drivers and pretend like they were giving them a ticket. In reality, they were collecting information about the types of gifts they needed for Christmas.
The deputies then relayed that information to members of the Secret Order of Boll Weevils, who were waiting inside a nearby Target. The Boll Weevils would quickly purchase the gifts and then bring them out to surprise the person who thought they were receiving a ticket.
Gabriel Cole was one of the “victims” of this holiday prank. She was brought to tears when what she thought was going to be a terrible day turned into a magical Christmas miracle. The Boll Weevils, SCSO and Target gave Cole gifts for her 1- and 2-year-old children, her mother and even a little something for herself.
“Thank you! Oh my God, thank you,” Cole said through tears of joy. “I’m blessed.”
The Secret Order of Boll Weevils even has its own Facebook page, and it looks as if they also give gifts to people in nursing homes. They ask for donations and promise it will go to people in need.
One other group, although with a different mission, is Glam Squad. It has been kind and generous to journalists. Many journalists live on the edge, as often news organizations do not pay well. Glam Squad has come to the White House Correspondents Dinner and also to the United Nations Correspondents Dinner, which was held this week. It does do makeup and hair gratis for these journalists who work hard during the year.
Looking good and feeling good about yourself is important, no matter if you are rich or poor. We all like to look and feel good about ourselves, and Glam Squad recognizes that.
It goes to people’s homes and also hosts parties. Even though it is a relatively new service, it is charitable and giving. It says, “We support a variety of charities including Look Good, Feel Better and Dress for Success. Our mission is to ‘help women look and feel beautiful, because when you feel amazing, you make amazing things happen,’ so we love supporting charities whose mission is a similar concept of empowering women.”
It is so creative to have the Shelby County police and the Secret Order of Boll Weevils as well as Glam Squad doing great things for people without being asked. It is this overwhelming spirit that can teach us great things this Christmas season. It doesn’t matter if you are Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim or Christian, doing something extraordinary at this time of year shows all of us that there is great goodness and caring and empathy for others. That is the spirit of the season, no matter what religion you practice and even if you don’t practice any religion.
The Blue Christmas and Glam Squad show that, from giving random gifts to making people feel good about how they look, there are gifts we can all appreciate. Both are wonderful ideas and show all of us that the true spirit of Christmas can be practiced by any one of us.
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