Spreading cheer one gift at a time with Cape Jaycees

Each year at this time, Cape Jaycees members sponsor two programs to spread holiday cheer for young and old alike.

Christmas for the Elderly program provides clothes, toiletries and other necessities to seniors in the Cape Girardeau County community.

Tracy Haggerty, chairwoman for the program, said its mission is to help seniors, particularly around the holidays.

“It's just to support senior citizens who are facing economic hardships, and really it's just to provide them with kind of the essential items and their little wants. They're essential items and just some comforts that we all kind of take for granted that are difficult for them to get, based on their economic status,” Haggerty said.

Christmas for the Elderly has been in operation for more than three decades, this being Haggerty’s ninth year as chairwoman. She said it all started with a group of Jaycees and an elderly couple who they knew were in need of help during Christmas. It evolved from there to what it is now.

The program gets a combination of local donations and grant funds from the Senior Citizens Service Board of Cape Girardeau County to help out the elderly in the area. In previous years, the program accepted more gifts to help the seniors, but because of COVID-19 and the flu being more prominent during this time of year, it has shifted away from the practice. Instead, they ask for gift cards and monetary donations to keep the elderly safe from sickness.

“We kind of changed our philosophy, our policy on this after COVID, just because we know that COVID is very much there and the flu is very much there, and so to kind of protect our seniors, we asked the community to really donate gift cards and monetary donations, and then we do the shopping for what their requests are. Just because it protects them from bringing unnecessary germs into the home, or illness into the home, because we know they're so vulnerable to that,” she said.

This year, Haggerty already has 104 seniors signed up for the program and is anticipating having a few more added to the list.

One thing each year that is stressful is the budget, so each individual can get what they requested. She finds that other than the budget, the program is a “fine-oiled machine”.

“This year, what I'm finding as I'm going out and starting the shopping is everyone knows the cost of everything is higher, and that's posing some challenges this year for us to be able to stay within where we try to with our budget and still give them the things that they need. So that's always the concern of the organization,” she said.

In her nine years, Haggerty said she has learned a lot about the needs of the seniors in our area. She has also built a relationship with some of the individuals who have been on the list for multiple years.

“I go into the homes, and the comforts that I have, I take for granted when I go into their homes and I see how difficult some of their living conditions are. So that's a challenge on a personal level. I see firsthand the need,” Haggerty said. “I remember one lady, and she needed a microwave. Given the fact that they live in their homes and these seniors probably don't need to be using ovens, it seems like a luxury, but for them, it's how they prepare their food for themselves. So, I went out, and I got a microwave to fit within the budget that this individual had requested, and I showed up at her door with this microwave, and she just lit up. She was so excited. She was like, ‘Come on, girl, we're having a dance party’. We literally danced in her living room because of a microwave. It was just, it was awesome.

“Another lady each year invites us in to look at her Christmas decorations each year. She's probably had them for years and years and years, she's so proud of them. For these people to want to share even just a small part of their life, like with me, is what keeps bringing me back to this program. I love the program, and I'm so passionate about it because of those stories. I love these people.”

While Haggerty said they always get a little stressed about the budget each year like everyone who shops for Christmas, she is always amazed by the generosity of the community,”

“Somehow, it just happens, the community just shows up every year for these individuals again. It’s just attributed to the wonderful people that live in the Cape Girardeau greater community. It's just awesome. So I'm just appreciative of that. I just wanted to thank the community for every year showing up,” she said.

Monetary donations and gift cards to help meet the needs and many others this holiday season may be dropped off at the Southeast Missourian office at 301 Broadway in downtown Cape Girardeau, and may also be mailed to Cape Jaycees, P.O. Box 4, Cape Girardeau, MO 63701.

Children's Toybox

For nearly 50 years the annual Toybox has been a beacon of hope and will continue this tradition. The event is organized by dedicated volunteers to provide toys to children to families who might struggle to afford gifts.

Tiffany Brosey, coordinator, said it’s a culmination of year-round efforts by volunteers who organize fundraising activities, such as golf and bowling tournaments, tailgating events and a catch-and-release fishing day. These activities help raise the necessary funds to purchase toys and other gifts for the children.

This year Brosey expects they will serve around 300 families reaching close to 1,000 children, similar to the number they delivered to last year. Applications are open until Thursday, Dec. 5, for families looking to apply. The applications will go back to paper this year instead of online applications like last year.

The sleigh will roll out on Thursday, Dec. 19, with “Santa Claus” delivering gifts once again this year. Brosey said Cape Auto Sales is instrumental in the success of the Toy Box event by donating 26 vans for the delivery of gifts each year.

The joy and excitement of children receiving gifts from Santa are what make the Toy Box event so special.

“It fills my heart seeing the kids and how excited they get when they see Santa pull up. They wait outside, they'll look through the window. They're peeking. They have snacks ready for Santa, like they are all in and that's just what makes it so exciting.” Brosey said “It's a lot of work on my end. So when we get to that delivery day and when I hear everyone come back from delivering and hearing all their stories I'm just like, ‘OK, I did all this blood, sweat and tears, you know, paid off.' Everyone's excited, everyone has Christmas, and that's what, that's what that's all about.

Those who would like another way to donate a toy can enter to run in Kim’s Toybox Run before the Parade of Lights parade on Sunday, Dec. 1, with a donated toy being the entrance fee. The 1-mile fun run or walk race will follow the same route of the parade from the intersection of Broadway and North West End Boulevard and finishing at the intersection of Broadway and Main Street.

For those interested in donating toys or volunteering, donations can be made at the Southeast Missourian's office. Volunteers interested in participating in the delivery process, which may include dressing up as Santa, can contact Tiffany at Tiffany@theprintingco.biz for more information.