Christmas should be about giving, not receiving, shouldn’t it? In that spirit, the Brooks family is continuing a holiday tradition started last year …
We’re taking the kids shopping for toys, games, etc. this week and then delivering those Christmas gifts to three local homeless/domestic violence shelters on Christmas Eve: Hope House, Milwaukee Women’s Center and the Salvation Army Emergency Lodge.
So here is the ask: If anyone wants to donate gifts for us to take, or donate money for us to spend on gifts when we go shopping, drop them off with Sarah or me any time before Christmas Eve. New, unwrapped items, please.
And if you’d like to come with us on Dec. 24 — and show your kids the true meaning of the season — please join us. We’d love to have you. It was a special time when we did this in 2012.
(Feel free to call me at 414-651-1105 or email me at erikbrooks32@gmail.com for more information.)
South Milwaukee Blog 
Maybe I just don’t “get it.” From my perspective, the season is not about giving nor receiving but about sharing. The “fortunate” offering gifts to the “less fortunate” is classist. It is labeling the givers as “haves” and the recipients as “have nots.” It puts the “less fortunate” in an awkward position of accepting gifts but having no gifts to offer in exchange. How about making friends with a shelter family. Play games, go to the movies, make cookies and punch together and make gifts for each other–so that everyone can be a giver and receiver–all year long. Just a thought.
Bonnee: I’d say it’s both. Christmas is about both sharing and giving. Fostering a year-long relationship is certainly a good thing — but so is helping make Christmas a bit more magic for those who can’t otherwise afford to. Classist? I disagree. And I think the homeless boy or girl who gets that new toy on Christmas morning would disagree too.
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