PHOTOS: 12-10-2023

Thank you to everyone who brought food, clothing, gifts, and to those who helped! God truly multiplies everything!! What an amazing and beautiful Christmas Celebration yesterday in Palatine! Thank you to everyone who walked through our doors with food, clothing, gifts, decorations and a special thank you to Lindsey Criser Foote's music students who hosted our luncheon and sang Christmas Carols! It was beautiful! As always, I didn't know whether we would have enough food, but people kept walking through the doors with their arms holding food throughout the morning (without my even knowing they would bring food), and our friends were able to take plenty of food home with them! Thank you to those who responded to my request for gloves, hats, coats, socks, and blankets! We received more than I could have imagined and everyone was so happy! There were 2 brand new women's coats donated and one of our women had just asked me on Friday, "Marian, do you think I could get another coat because my zipper is broken?" I couldn't believe that one of the 2 coats was exactly her size and she was thrilled! It was beautiful! The second 'new coat' seemed to be the size of another woman who lives outside and won't ask for anything. She just always says to me, "that's okay, I'm fine." I noticed she was wearing a very light-weight and tattered coat and so I brought the new coat to her and asked her to try it on. Her smile was so beautiful as she said, "Thank you! This is so warm and I love the color!" And, it fit her perfectly! So many people were expressing such gratitude for yesterday and one man said, "Thank You and please thank the volunteers because we needed this more than you could ever know! It is depressing and dark out there and until today, I didn't feel like it was the Christmas Season...but we all are experiencing Christmas and so much love today!"