MADISON — Sometimes, drive-thru service can be a little impersonal, even cheerless.
This year, Madison-area St. Vincent de Paul Society members took a festive annual event curbside to help make Christmas brighter for hundreds of children from local households in need.
Yearly event
Each December, St. Vincent de Paul Society member groups, known as “conferences,” from Dane County parishes work together as the Society’s District Council of Madison to provide gifts for the children of families the conferences served during the year through a “Little Drummer” event.Typically, parishioners, Catholic school families, Edgewood College students, Madison Catholic Woman’s Club members, and other generous donors purchase and contribute toys, clothing, and other gift items that are then collected in December at the Middlecamp Center for Vincentian Charity in Madison.
Eligible families visit the center for the Little Drummer event, and — from the thousands of unwrapped items assembled — are provided gifts they can then give their kids at Christmas.
This year, pandemic safety concerns required the program to operate drive-thru style.
On December 12, member volunteers and District Council staff provided curbside delivery of retail gift cards, supplemented with sports balls, board games, and craft kits.
Families also received a grocery gift card to help provide a celebratory Christmas meal.
“Working together, the parish conferences and District Council were able to provide gifts for more than 200 families, helping bring Christmas joy to about 500 children this year,” said Madison District Council Membership Director Gayle Westfahl.
With member volunteers, Westfahl organized the adapted Little Drummer event.
Helping others
Eighteen parishes in Dane County have St. Vincent de Paul conferences.
Members of those conferences join together in friendship to grow spiritually through the work of charitable service to neighbors in need.
Members typically make home visits to households requesting assistance and learn about the circumstances of their need.
St. Vincent de Paul members respond by providing material support, prayer, and friendship to help meet that need.
In this pandemic year, home visits have become phone visits, but the person-to-person care continues.
“Because I will not stand idly by and live in a world where love is invisible,” said Kathleen Dare when asked why she has maintained her Vincentian commitment and participation in the Little Drummer project for many years.
Dare, a member of the St. Thomas Aquinas conference and the Society’s local board of directors, credited Audrey Loves Pary with the quote and said she sees those words as an encouragement for the way in which she chooses to live her life.
“I’ve been involved with the Little Drummer project for a very long time,” noted Pat Ponty, president of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish conference.
“Like many of us, I had fond memories of past Christmases and wanted to share that with families and children who would otherwise be left out. I am inspired by the generosity of so many people. Being part of a group so committed to making a difference in the lives of children is a perfect gift to myself!”