An Idea for Good: How We All Can Wrap Up 2020

A letter from BurgerFit CEO, Alane Boyd

I love the holidays. It has always been such a magical time! I start listening to Christmas music the week before Thanksgiving to start the season. However, being a mom and being exhausted all the time, my enthusiasm to decorate has deteriorated, especially knowing I  have to put it all away in January!  But really what I really love about the holiday season is gift-giving and thinking of special ways to spoil the people I love and now, also, the people that I have never met.  

Several years ago, I started doing the Angel Tree at church and picking a couple of kids from the tree to buy Christmas presents for. I would get everything on their Christmas list because I wanted them to feel so special on Christmas morning. My mom and I would even team up and she would embroider blankets with their names on it. But last year, we made a change to who we “adopted” for the holidays, a group of people that, I believe, are often forgotten.

Last year I saw a Christmas tree at Walmart for a local senior home to “adopt” a senior for the holidays. Their Christmas wishlist didn’t include toys or the latest fads, they included essentials like shampoo, ensure, diabetic socks, pj’s, etc. My heart went out to these seniors. Just like the kids we would adopt from the Angel Tree, all we get is an ornament with their first name and a brief list of what they want for Christmas. We don’t know their story or their condition, and they don’t know us. It is all anonymous. My mom, being my partner in crime, and I adopted three of the seniors to shop for. Now that Fletcher is a little older, we include him in it too. He helps shop for gifts, package everything up, and deliver them to the pickup location. This year we again adopted three seniors and it felt even more needed with the lockdowns from COVID. Senior homes have to take extra precautions to keep their seniors safe but with that comes a lot of loneliness. We got everything on their wishlist and of course, added the blankets with their names embroidered on them. Fletcher also included print outs of his Blast Off Into Space meditation for them to read.  If you have a little to give, see if there is a local senior center that is doing a holiday wishlist for them. If you can’t find anything local, here are some national ones that we found.

“Adopting” people for the holidays has become my favorite part of the season. I find so much joy in putting together the gifts for them. I always wonder what their faces look like when they get to open everything. I also believe this is important for Fletcher to be a part of and see that Christmas isn’t just about getting presents but about thinking of others. It is a very small step in teaching him the importance of caring for others, but it is a start. 

As we wrap up 2020, I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season and don’t stress too much. Nothing has to be perfect, it is more important to be present.

xo,

Alane

P.S.

If there is one thing that I don’t love about the holidays, it’s the amount of unhealthy food everywhere you turn. For someone that has weak willpower and has to work every day on making healthy choices, it can be a time of stress for me! Over the years, I have developed my own secrets to getting through the holidays with as few extra pounds as possible. Some of them may seem eccentric at first but once you make them part of your holiday routine and your family and friends get used to them, they will seem normal! You can read my ideas and tips here.