Reality Church on Franklin Street hosted “A Home for Christmas” for 10 hours Sunday, serving homeless and other families in need with free toys for the kids, pictures with Santa Claus, snacks and a place to get in from the rain and cold.
The event is in its third year at the nondenominational church downtown. It’s the brainchild of Cody Simmons, 25, a church member who remembers what it was like growing up in Olympia when he and his mother spent Christmases in a state of homelessness.
“When I was 13-years-old, I was on the street,” Simmons said. “They didn’t have anything like this. I always wanted something like this open all day to offer to people.”
Simmons said he’s been organizing for the event and soliciting donors in the local business community since July. Businesses donated food and refreshments, as well as gift cards that were raffled off throughout the day.
Pastor Paul Jones noted that other local churches helped with this year’s event including New Bridge Community, First Baptist, Mars Hill and Westwood Baptist.
Participants in “A Home for Christmas” said they were struck by how smoothly the event went. First Baptist Church agreed to host a free Christmas dinner just two blocks away, giving families more room to kick back and relax in the auditorium of the spacious Reality Church.
About 100 people were enjoying the hospitality midafternoon.
Isaac Calavecchio, a volunteer with New Bridge, carried a box filled with donated stuffed animals and other toys to the gift-donation room in the basement. The toys were wrapped so that children could unwrap them.
Trudy Pendleton, a volunteer assigned to the entrance of Reality Church, said any and all who entered were offered a pass for a free shower at the YMCA and gift boxes of donated toiletries.
Christmas-themed movies such as “Elf” and “A Christmas Story” played on a large-screen projector in the church auditorium as children played with their unwrapped gifts. Also downstairs was a volunteer dressed as Santa Claus, who posed for free photos with children.
Megan Botkin of Shelton played with her two children in the busy church auditorium. Botkin said they’ve been homeless since their home burned down several months ago.
“We had a three-bedroom house; we lost everything,” she said.
Botkin said that ordinarily, she has nowhere to go during the day because her downtown shelter requires her to be outside during daylight hours.
“This is a blessing that this was open today,” she said. “Because nothing was open.”
Botkin’s son Isaiah, 7, beamed with a wide grin as he played with a Transformer action figure.
His sister Savanna, 5, played with a battery-operated toy puppy that walked via a control pad connected to wires from its leash. Savanna said she had named the dog Lilly.
“It’s a puppy that’s housebroken that I don’t have to feed,” Botkin said, laughing. “My daughter just told me a minute ago, she said ‘Mama, this is the best Christmas ever.’ ”
Volunteers serving snacks seemed to get just as much out of the event as the families being served.
“It’s just a great feeling to help people,” said Rebecca Roberts, who was dishing out coffeecake behind a counter.
Roberts, a nurse at Providence St. Peter Hospital, said it was her husband Eric Forsythe’s idea for both to volunteer for the event on Christmas Day.
Jeremy Pawloski: 360-754-5445
jpawloski@theolympian.com
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