A new nonprofit in Lebanon County is spreading cheer this holiday season by providing gifts to select families in need.
Greg Vaitl and George Rodriguez spoke with LebTown about Christman’s Christmas, an initiative that started in 2021 and earned nonprofit status earlier this year.
The nonprofit is the byproduct of a partnership between Christman’s Funeral Home and Sweep the Streets.
“It kind of all originated with our Sweep the Streets relationship,” Rodriguez, co-founder of Sweep the Streets, said. “Greg [who is the owner, supervisor, and funeral director of Christman’s Funeral Home] is our title sponsor for our tournament.
“So, during our tournament, Greg and I came together, and we wanted to see: How can we make an impact on the holiday season?”
The two landed on Christman’s Christmas, which “has a great ring to it,” Rodriguez said.
The nonprofit is entirely run by volunteers. “The group of people that started with us the first year are pretty much still with us,” Vaitl said. “So, it just kind of grew from there with the amount of people.”
Many of the nonprofit’s volunteers are owners of small businesses and/or are engaged members of the community. “During this time, they help us wrap gifts, go shopping, and they also donate … for the families as well,” Rodriguez said.
Sweep the Streets, Christman’s Funeral Home, and other community organizations and members make donations to the nonprofit that are, in turn, used to purchase gifts.
The initiative purchased gifts for five families during its first holiday season and is planning to purchase gifts for 15 to 20 families this holiday season.
Vaitl and Rodriguez believe that the initiative’s new status as a nonprofit will support its growing ability to serve select families in need, as others can now make tax-deductible donations to Christman’s Christmas.
Another way that community organizations can support the nonprofit is by hosting fundraisers. The Fredericksburg Eagle Hotel gave 10 percent of its food and beverage proceeds from noon to 9 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 20, to the nonprofit.
“And that’s a huge help,” Rodriguez said. “They helped us out a lot last year.”
Between October and December each year, the Lebanon School District — specifically, Henry Houck Elementary School Principal Pedro Cruz — identifies families in need in the Lebanon School District area for Christman’s Christmas.
“The school district knows better than anybody what families could use the help during the holiday season,” Rodriguez said. “Without [Cruz], we’re not able to know what families actually need it. So, he reaches out to other principals and other schools and sees what families could use the help this year.”
Lebanon School District provides Christman’s Christmas with a list of the children’s ages, sizes, and interests from select families in need. The nonprofit uses this list to purchase and wrap the gifts.
“We just enjoy looking at the list and going shopping for them,” Rodriguez said. “It’s exciting for us. It’s fun, especially when you know what it’s going for and how much cheer, being that we’ve already done it two years prior, seeing the kids’ faces and the joy [to] mom and dad [it] brings. It’s definitely touching and rewarding for us. And that’s why we decided to make it a nonprofit and continue to grow this.”
This year, Lizzie’s Catering and Events is allowing the nonprofit to use its banquet hall at 300 Prescott Road.
“So, each family will show up and take pictures with Santa and get cookies and refreshments, as well as mom and dad will be given all the gifts so that they can give their kids a beautiful Christmas and put those gifts under the Christmas tree the night before Christmas,” Rodriguez said.
When asked to share a few stories to help get readers in the Christmas spirit, Rodriguez shared about a single mother with, if his memory served him right, six children that the initiative provided gifts for its first year.
“The first year, we wanted it to be a surprise, so they didn’t really know,” Rodriguez remembered. “And when we showed up, one of the moms just broke down, crying and hugging and just telling us how much they didn’t have any gifts. So, in her head, kids were not going to have a Christmas. And we actually delivered them on Christmas Eve. So, it was very, very touching to see like, wow, those kids are going to be able to wake up and have a great Christmas.”
Vaitl remembered a father with children for whom the initiative provided gifts for the last holiday season. “We brought him one or two, and he thought we were done. We kept coming. … We gave him a whole truckload. … Yeah, he was shocked.”
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