Holiday Gift Exchange at the Orr Center

Written by: Kate Snyder, Executive Assistant

We try to include as many of our clients as possible in our Christmas Gift Program from giving Giant Eagle gift cards to our Meals on Wheels clients to providing gifts for the children in our youth programs. But several of our programs are a bit harder to include, due to the transient nature of the populations they serve.

The Orr Compassionate Care Center is one example. Guests who stay at the Orr Center come because they have nowhere else to go to recover after illness or injury has led to a hospital stay. Many are homeless, some simply alone, but all are in need of a warm and secure environment in which to recuperate. Our guests stay for as little as a week or as long as a month or so and the population is always changing.

Which is why it’s difficult for them to participate in our Christmas program. The other programs put in their gift requests back in October so that we have time to distribute them to the congregations. But our fall Orr guests are usually long gone by Christmas. What to do?

I’m glad you asked! A few years ago, Janice, the talented and caring staff member who heads up the Orr Center team, came up with a fabulous idea. Each year, in addition to gifts, we receive a number of gift cards to local stores – Giant Eagle, Walmart, etc. And Janice puts them to good use.

On a designated day, the guests at the Orr Center all draw names for a Secret Santa-type gift exchange. They are each given a gift card to Walmart and Janice drives them all there together in the EECM van. The guests buy gifts for one another, then return home to wrap them. They exchange their gifts a few days later, following a special holiday meal.

This lovely tradition allows our Orr Center guests to participate in the holiday festivities and they all have a great time.