THE SEASON OF SHARING

It was difficult to walk around inside the Craftsman Industries Union building on Morgan Oak Thursday morning.

Hundreds of wood baskets overflowing with fruit, bacon, eggs, chickens, canned food, cereal, cookies and bread lined the floor from wall to wall. A single 2-foot-wide path down the middle of the room was the only way to get from the front to the back.

At least a dozen union members dashed about, checking items off lists and making sure the baskets were as full as can be.

Once complete, the baskets were loaded into the backs of trucks and vans, ready to be delivered to area families and individuals who have fallen on hard times this Christmas season.

"We've done this for several years," said union member William Holly, as he gestured to a back room stacked with crates of oranges and racks of bread. "The first year we started this, we only did five baskets, but every year it's grown."

In all, the union distributed more than 700 baskets. With the help of local churches and the Missouri Division of Aging, they were given to many who could use a little extra help this time of year.

Holly said he enjoys the excitement the basket project generates among union members, many of whom spend weeks gathering items for the baskets and putting them together.

He said he, too, gets personal fulfillment from knowing he has helped others.

"It just makes Christmas for me. That pretty much sums it up," he said.

Throughout Cape Girardeau, people in need are receiving unexpected Christmas presents because of the overwhelming generosity of others in the community.

Most who make donations or buy toys and food wish to do so without recognition. They say Christmas is a season for sharing, and they feel compelled to share their blessings with others.

Often, individuals make donations, and businesses, churches and social services group volunteer distribute the gifts.

Employees at each Cape Girardeau hospital -- Southeast Missouri Hospital and St. Francis Medical Center -- pooled their resources to help former patients this season.

At St. Francis, employees in various departments adopted families in lieu of buying gifts for doctors.

Tuesday, employees from five hospital departments gathered for a "wrapping day," during which dozens of gifts for a family of two children, an unborn baby due Jan. 6, a mother and a father were wrapped, tagged and packed.

The employees adopted the family knowing the father was in the hospital in October and has not been able to return to work since.

Spread out on a conference table were gifts ranging from clothes and compact discs to hand-crocheted baby blankets, food and work boots. Employees also bought a camera and film that the family can use to take pictures of the baby after it's born.

Connie Laurentius, an administrative assistant at the hospital, organized the effort and said it always is an emotional experience for her.

She recalled that a few years ago, she delivered food and gifts to a newly divorced woman with children, living in a mobile home with barely any money. She said the woman stood in the middle of her living room and cried uncontrollably at the sight of the Christmas gifts for her kids.

"We really pulled together," she said. "I love doing it. It gets emotional. It makes you want to dig deeper."

Donna Frye, a registered nurse who took care of the father while he was in the hospital, said she will take her 6-year-old son with her when she helps make the special delivery.

"I try to explain to him what it means to give to other people," she said. "I want him to come along and see what it's like. I try to teach that no matter what you have, you have to share."

Frye said the family, as are many families in their situation, was reluctant to receive help after being approached by hospital staff.

"These are very proud people. They are very hard workers," she said. "Their list was very limited. I think they're going to be surprised, though."

At Southeast Missouri Hospital, patients in the Skilled Nursing Facility on Thursday were given an opportunity to do a little Christmas shopping without leaving the hospital.

Activity Specialist Chris Scherer bought numerous gift items with money donated by the hospital's Foundation and set up a store in a lobby on the SNF floor.

Items included toys, games, flashlights, socks, soap, candy, popcorn tins, ornaments and hair care products.

Patients were invited to browse the items and select, at no cost, gifts to give their loved ones for Christmas. Volunteers wrapped and tagged the gifts for the residents.

Scherer said he enjoys making the holiday more enjoyable for the patients by offering them the normalcy of Christmas shopping.

"The patients are not able to get out and get gifts for their family," he said. "This makes them feel like they contribute to the Christmas spirit by picking out their own gifts, and it always means a lot for the family because they know Mom or Dad picked it out."

Other Southeast employees participated in an Angel Tree program.

Various departments at the hospital, such as Hospice or Home Health, submit names of former or current patients to the program. The names and wish-list items are placed on a tree in the hospital. Employees select names and purchase gifts for those individuals.

Barb McKeon, employee counselor at the hospital, organizes the program and said staffers seem to look forward to getting a name off the tree.

"The angels are only out on the tree a day or two," she said. "The staff just picks them up and runs with them."

McKeon said the hospital tends to physical needs, but also feels compelled to provide for patients' emotional needs, especially during Christmas.

"They feel very good about giving. This is something they feel very special about," she said. "It's a good feeling to give something and people not know who we are. At this time of year, we just want them to know we care about them."