Program drums up warm clothes for children in need

Intermountain Catholic

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Many children, such as these whose family has gone through the refugee resettlement program, benefit from the Catholic Community Services' Gift of the Drummer program.

SALT LAKE CITY — Each year, hundreds of children’s names are placed on ornaments on trees in churches throughout the Diocese of Salt Lake City as part of the Gift of the Drummer program. These children aren’t looking for the finest gifts, only clothes. In these tough economic times, their needs continue to grow.

"We’ll be well over 900 by the time we’re done," said Dennis Kelsch of Catholic Community Services, who coordinates the Gift of the Drummer program. "We could take 200 more, it’s just that we don’t have the resources right now."

Those who receive gifts are children in families at 150 percent of the poverty guidelines, which is an annual income of $33,588 for a family of four. Each child receives three clothing items.

St. Thomas More Parish provides for more than 200 children through Gift of the Drummer. "Our people are so generous," said Margarita Martin, who coordinates the parish’s program. "I have no problem, usually, placing 200 kids in one weekend. I do the four Masses, and after the 11:30 Mass they are all gone."

St. Thomas More parishioners "just love this program," she added. "I have people that I know that go at the 5 o’clock Mass early because they want to make sure they get a kid. And they take two and three kids at a time."

Many of the parishioners make shopping for the Gift of the Drummer a family tradition, she said. "It makes everybody feel good and at the same time it teaches the kids how other kids their age live, that they don’t have as much as they have."

At Our Lady of Lourdes, Joyce Christensen has had similar experiences as the program’s volunteer coordinator. "I’ve had mothers and fathers come out and let their children choose a name so that they can go shopping as a family so the children are building this habit of giving, also," Christensen said. "They make it a family affair. I have quite a few families that do that."

Although Our Lady of Lourdes parish is smaller than St. Thomas – they support about 40 children for the Gift of the Drummer – Christensen ran out of children’s names but still was being asked by parishioners who want to donate to the program.

In this economy, "I was surprised" by the willingness to give, Christensen said, "but boy, after the 5 o’clock Mass on Saturday, just about none were left. Then I finished up at the first Mass on Sunday."

In addition to the participation of about a dozen parishes, the program is supported by both Judge Memorial and Juan Diego Catholic high schools.

Judge Memorial’s students have donated to the Gift of the Drummer for many years. "It’s just a really nice way for them to really see what’s going on, and not just donate a shirt; they know they’re donating a whole Christmas for a child," said Amanda Lazinski, Judge Memorial’s director of campus ministry.

While Juan Diego traditionally has collected clothing and food through its Spirit of Christmas program, this is the first year the school has participated in Gift of the Drummer, which allowed CCS to provide for 65 more children, Kelsch said.

"We definitely wanted to partner with Catholic Community Services this year just because we knew there was so much more need," said Sarah Don, the school’s service coordinator. In addition to clothing, students will collect items such as towels, cleaning supplies and board games, "things that families can use," she said. "Those aren’t on the list from Catholic Community Services but I know our students really enjoy purchasing those sorts of items as well."

All of the items for the Gift of the Drummer will be distributed to families the week of Dec. 14. Kelsch requests that donors don’t wrap the gifts; he prefers that the parents be allowed to do that so they can in some way participate in the process.