Operation Kid's Smile 2007

St. John's #9, Operation Kids Smile 2007
Real Christmas Joy
Story and Photographs by VWB Chuck Brockway

For the past several years St. John's Lodge has sought out families of soldiers that are in need of assistance at Christmas. We have worked through the (CSM) Command Sergeant Majors to seek out these families and obtain enough information that we can provide them with their needs to make it special for them.

This year we helped seven families and 20 children of the 555th Engineering Brigade. Some members of the Brigade are currently deployed and other units have recently returned. The ages of the children ranged from 3 months to 14 years old. We provided every family with a complete Christmas dinner plus clothing and toys for each child. The families were nearly overwhelmed with emotion,

several were speechless. The children were beaming with excitement and joy as the photos show.

There is a great deal of prior planning that goes into an event like this. First, there is the coordination with CSM Randy Dyson weeks in advance to get the information on the families, i.e., ages, sizes, addresses, phone numbers, etc. Coordination must be made directly with each family to set a

time for the visit by Santa. The team gathered at my home for coffee and organizing. Then the team loaded into the motor home to allow everyone to get through Fort Lewis gate security, the motor home allowed room for transporting all the gifts as well. The morning was spent purchasing food, clothing and toys. We assembled all of these items and tagged them for delivery and placed a St. John's brochure in every box.

Our own Santa Claus clearly had the most fun and the elves all enjoyed it as well. The children are really special... the looks and smiles tell it all!! Christmas is a special time and the enjoyment we are able to bring to those families, that may not have been so bright prior to our deliveries, is truly amazing. Every elf was moved by the experience and Santa is still... Ho, Ho, Ho-ing... It was unanimously agreed at our pizza dinner back at my home that we clearly made a difference for these military families. We thank St. John's Lodge and gifts from several of the Brethren for making this event possible.

Special thanks to our elf crew Hans, Ken and Sharon Wehl, Bill and Aundie Collison, Jim Wold, Joe Oates Joseph Lund, George Rhine, Terry Grove, Jack Berg, Skip Albertson, Chuck and Sherla Brockway, plus several gifts from others.