Amid the picturesque winter holiday backdrop of the Lake Forest/Lake Bluff community, where everyone is caught up in the excitement of the season, people tend to forget that not everyone is as fortunate. However, members of the Allendale Women’s Board (AWB) maintain a strong commitment to including everyone through the spirit of giving.
Each year, the members of the Allendale Women’s Board put together a holiday gift exchange for the children at Allendale, a nonprofit organization that offers treatment programs and provides educational opportunities for children facing behavioral and emotional challenges.
The event takes months of planning, starting in early September. The women are particularly passionate about this event, as it is a way to try to lift the children’s spirits during a time that can be difficult.
“It’s important year-round, but especially around the holidays, to remember people who are struggling… It’s also a really hard time for them because they’re not with their families,” member Isabel Fiore said. “So it is a festive, cheerful event that comes with a lot of complicated feelings.”
In preparation for the event, the women collect holiday wish lists from the children and divvy them up. Members personally purchase all the gifts, which distinguishes this event from other crowdsourced fundraising initiatives. The gift exchange is a gesture from the women’s board to the children at Allendale.
“Our students look forward to it all year because it’s more than a party; it’s a reminder that they are seen, remembered, and valued,” Susan Gaddy, Head of the Allendale Developmental Office, said.
Since they are motivated by a desire to make the children feel cared for, members do their best to ensure that no child feels left out. To be sensitive, the members make sure that the items for each child come out to the same dollar amount. Additionally, some children are taken in by Allendale right before the event, so the women on the board make sure to preemptively purchase things like gift cards to prevent leaving a child out.
One year, a boy had asked for a very specific owl house, and the AWB volunteer in charge of buying his gift had gone to several towns in order to find it in time for the event. However, the boy was unable to make it to the event. Instead of leaving the gift to be given to him at a later time, the volunteer brought it to him personally.
“It was a small gesture, but a powerful one: a thoughtful gift delivered with genuine care,” Gaddy said.
After purchasing all the gifts, the board gets together for a wrapping party planned by the co-chairs, Debbie Jimenez and Sharon Brown. The duo works together to provide everything from wrapping paper to gift tags in order to make a festive event for the members. Afterward, they bring the gifts to Allendal in Lake Villa, where the event is hosted.
The members try to make this a magical experience for the children by not only exchanging gifts but also decorating the room, bringing baked goods, and arranging for a visit from Santa. The kids are so grateful for this act of kindness. Sometimes, even something that seems like a small gesture can have a big impact.
“For me, it helps so much to know that someone cares about me. Someone who will care just because they care. It helps because I have never really been cared about,” wrote one of the children in a thank-you letter to AWB. “But you guys helped me realize that I am cared about.”
