The magic of getting a Christmas hamper
Former recipient now shares her story and makes frequent donations to help those in need
Jen Stevenson-Moore knows the value of Christmas hampers first-hand.
“When I was younger, my parents split up, because my dad was a violent alcoholic,” she said.
“There were three of us (kids), and my mom took us and left. Because she didn’t have resources to take care of herself, or us, we ended up in the welfare system.”
Living on welfare meant being short of money, always.
“We used hampers to survive, basically,” she said. “My mom would put us on a list and we would go on Christmas hampers to survive through the holidays and beyond.”
She can still remember the first time the family received a hamper.
“It was really special,” she said.
“The people who came to help us were strangers. I was nine years old, I was a little kid, and my sisters were younger than me. And it was so special, because there were these strangers at our door with presents with our names on them and food for our family. And they knew exactly what we needed.
“As a little kid, that was huge, that was amazing. Because of that circumstance, it totally changed me. It made me aware of other people, it made me aware of helping other people.”
Now a nurse, married and with two kids herself, she’s teaching her kids the same values, “seeing other people for who they are.”
This means helping people in need, whenever you can help.
“Very often I’m at St. Paul’s, because I have chronic pain,” she said.
“So when I go, I always bring things for the people living on the streets. I want to make sure my kids are the same way, and their kids are the same way. It sounds kind of cheesy, but make the world a better place through my family, and our generations.”
Recently Stevenson-Moore told her story at an event for the Langley Christmas Bureau, one of the organizations that receives funds through the Province’s Empty Stocking Fund. And it struck a chord.
“The most beautiful thing out of the whole experience was a lot of people (coming up),” she said.
“It really resonated for them, because there was a lot of people who grew up in the same generation I did, and a lot of them went through the same things.
“There were a lot of tears in the room. We had a lot of very amazing conversations. I hugged a lot of strangers. It was really powerful to be connected that way.”