Sioux Falls, South Dakota
My husband and I started the Christmas jar tradition 3 years ago, We even gave the book and jars to our 3 adult children and their spouses so they could participate as well! It’s a family tradition now.
My husband works for the USPS and with the new postal reform and the closing of branches and processing centers, our city was affected, so we had to transfer 100 miles away and had 8 days to make it all happen, housing, packing, it was quite a feat. We ended up in an apartment complex in a very urban area, we like it a lot, the people are lovely, it’s safe, and we love our new space. When I was inquiring about our new place with the leasing agent, I had made several phone calls to her and also emailed her quite a few times, I had finally drove up to sign papers and pay our deposit when this leasing agent became “my project”..lol. She had moved to this area just weeks before, going though a divorce, raising 2 school age children, took a job at the apartments cleaning and part time leasing, clearly you could see the struggle. I had remained friendly to her, always making conversation when I seen her in the halls, wishing her a good day and giving her a smile. This person became my recipient of our 2011 Christmas jar.
Because this apartment building is part of the same property ownership of our previous place, I was able to call my previous apartment manager, so she could set up “drop off plan”. What happened was, I was able for her to contact the maintenance man, who came by my apartment to pick up the jar, he then placed it in the office on her desk when now one was looking!
I just heard back from my old apartment manager by phone today and this is what she said:
My recipient was brought to tears, she had no idea how she was going to get her kids a Christmas present, nor did she have money for gas to drive back home for Christmas Day, she was completely overcome by this gift of generosity! I gave this jar 3 days before Christmas, because I knew in my heart that she needed it before Christmas. Enclosed in my jar was: 1) $125.00 in silver change 2) $100 in cash bills 3) A $100 Walmart gift card. Brought joy to my heart.