Last Christmas (2010) BookTalk.org members helped make Christmas a little brighter for the abused and neglected children living at the Cleveland Christian Home by donating a total of $558.09 towards the purchase of Christmas gifts. We're going to do it again this year because the ordeal these kids are going through is still just as real and painful for them one year later.

Christmas is the saddest and most depressing time of the year for children who have been abused and neglected by their own families. It is a time when these young people are forced to face the reality that they aren't loved or wanted by the very people that should care about them more than life itself. For you and me the Christmas season may be a time for loving, giving and being with family and friends, but for children without families it is a time for tears, hopelessness and depression.

I know how these kids feel because I was one of them. Back in 1978 and 1979, when I was 10 and 11 years old, I lived at the Cleveland Christian Home. I spent several years in foster homes prior to and directly after my time living at the Cleveland Christian Home.

To this day I struggle with even talking about it as it was the most painful time of my life. For many years I kept the pain bottled up. I didn't speak about either the foster homes or Cleveland Christian Home to anyone other than a very small handful of close family members and friends. Talking about it flashes me back to being that little boy and I am forced to relive it.

For many years I secretly sent Christmas gifts to the CCH because I didn't want my father or (or anyone else) to know how as an adult I was still so affected by his horrific decision to sign over custody of us and put me and my brother into foster homes. I kept the gifts quiet from everyone as I wasn't giving to the kids for acknowledgement of any sort. It was my small way of helping kids that I knew truly need help.

But now my father is gone. He died several years ago of lung cancer. Now I can talk without causing him pain. Now I can give openly and possibly motivate a few other people (hopefully you) to reach out and help those kids. I'm sharing a bit of my story here because I know how you feel. Every Christmas people are trying to pry money from your wallets and purses. Just walking in the grocery store or mall is stressful because we have to walk by those people shaking the little bells asking us for money. If we don't give we feel guilty. At least I do. And then that guilt makes me feel somewhat resentful that I have been put in the position to have to basically say "No" either verbally or through my lack of donating every time I walk by.

Like you I'm always skeptical about where my money goes when I donate it. Are people using my hard-earned money properly? Or is this a scam and my money is going directly into someones pocket that doesn't deserve it? How do you really know where your money goes when you donate it?

When you donate through BookTalk.org to the kids at the Cleveland Christian Home everything is out in the open. Your money and name are added to a published list (unless you ask to be anonymous) and the invoice for the presents we buy is also published. If you want you can call the Cleveland Christian Home and verify everything I've said. (Maria Livers 216-688-4126) 100% of your donated money goes towards Christmas gifts. Volunteers at the CCH wrap them and see that they are given to all the kids on Christmas morning.

I remember how wonderful it felt to receive a pile of presents on Christmas morning from people I didn't even know. Total strangers reached out and touched my life and helped give me hope at a time when I was teetering on just giving up completely. I remember the football someone gave me. Heck, I didn't even like football but I kept that football most of my life because it had such meaning. I received a few really cool puzzles that I put together and took apart over and over again.

If you're in a position to donate $5 or $50 or maybe more please click on the button below and give. Once we get to the second week in December I will order presents from Amazon.com off of the below "Christmas Wishes" list and have them shipped directly to the Cleveland Christian Home. All details will be posted here including the names of those who donated (unless they request to be anonymous) and the gifts we sent. We'll be doing this as a group.

And if you are the type of person that is worried about being scammed just donate directly to the Cleveland Christian Home. I just think it would be easier if we did this as a group. Again, I lived at the CCH and know where donated presents go. They will all end up being wrapped and given to some very needy children. I don't work for the CCH and stand to gain nothing financially for this request for donations.

Please donate a few dollars so that we can give the kids at the Cleveland Christian Home a better Christmas.

Christmas Wishes 2011
This is what the children of the Cleveland Christian Home have asked Santa for this year! Again, you don't need to buy any of these gifts yourself. Just make a donation and I will order the gifts myself. I'll post the invoice so you can see what was ordered.

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ELECTRONICS

• Portable Radio w/CD Player
• MP3 or CD Players w/Headphones
• DVD Players & DVDs - rated G, PG or PG-13
• Hand Held Electronic Games - sports, trivia, etc.
• Batteries (D/C/AA/AAA/9V)

HOUSEWARES & SUPPLIES

• Duffel Bags, Backpacks for older teens
• Cribs and Car Seats (2007 or newer)
• Comforters, Blankets & Sheets (for Twin-size beds)
• Pots & Pans/Dish Sets/Plastic Cups/Silverware

Small Appliances:

• Coffee Makers
• Space Heaters
• Toasters
• Small Microwaves
• Alarm Clock Radios
• Electric Fans
• Irons
• Hair Dryers
• Cordless Phones
• Answering Machines

GAMES & TOYS

• Art Supplies & Drawing/Painting Paper, Stickers
• Footballs, Basketballs, Pumps, Nerf Basketball Hoops
• Bakugan, Yu-Gi-Oh! and Pokemon Toys and Cards
• Remote Control Cars and Hot Wheels Brand Cars
• Family Board Games for ages 8 and up:
• Yahtzee, Risk, Clue, Monopoly, Sequence, Battleship,
• Life, Chess, Checkers, Connect Four, Scrabble, etc.
• Decks of Cards and Card Games - Uno, etc.
• Snap-Together Models: Legos, Bionicals, etc.
• Toddler, Leap Frog Learning and Memory Games & Toys
• Barbie, Dora & Baby Dolls and Accessories - *Dolls
  representing a variety of ethnicities are greatly appreciated
• Action Figures: Spider-Man, Wrestling, Power Rangers, etc.

HOLIDAY ITEMS

• Extra-Large Paper Gift Bags
• Large Holiday Plastic Bags (39-gal. size)
• Wrapping Paper & Scotch Tape

CLOTHING

• Winter Coats - Men’s & Women’s sizes
• Clothing for Teens, incl. School Uniform items
• Shoes, Tennis Shoes, Boots (Timberland, etc.)
• Socks, Underwear, Boxer Shorts (no briefs, please)
• Hoodies, Children’s Winter Boots & Coats

BOOKS & WRITING

• Journals, Activity Books (esp. for Teens),
• Magazine Subscriptions (please call for a list)
• Book Series for young readers by R.L. Stine,
• J.K. Rowling, Lemony Snicket, C.S.Lewis, etc.
• School Supplies are needed all year - no crayons at this time

GIFT CERTIFICATES

• Target, Walmart, K-Mart, Footlocker,
• McDonald’s (for field trips), Giant Eagle

* Please, no stuffed animals or baby dolls this year!

Important reminders from Santa:

1. Gifts should be new.
2. Please do not wrap!
All wrapped gifts will be opened. We welcome gifts in open gift bags.
3. Please leave price tags on items! This will help us accurately report your donation for tax purposes.
4. Please bring or ship gifts to 11401 Lorain Ave, Cleveland, OH 44111 by Friday, Dec 12th.
5. Please give advance notice of large donations by calling: 216-476-0333.

Thanks for the $50 donation, Kelly Standridge!

Do you post on the forums are you arriving here from Facebook?

Damn it, Chris, you've completely exposed my oh-so-clever username!

Oh, damn. Is that OK? I didn't see any message about keeping it anonymous in the PayPal email. You OK with the name attached?

I changed it to your username and not real name.

I'm sorry, Chris, really, I was just kidding. Stoopid interweb doesn't convey sarcasm very well. Hope you raise lots!

Chris,

Is there a deadline for donations? I hope we can equal what we did last year.

Geo, the "Christmas Wishes 2011" says, "Please bring gifts to 11401 Lorain Avenue by Monday, Dec 12th."

If we're to get our gifts to the Cleveland Christian Home by December 12th we really need to order them on Monday, December 7th. Of course it isn't the end of the world if we get the gifts there a bit late. They will still get wrapped and distributed to the kids. But the CCH uses volunteers to wrap the gifts and I think they don't want to put too much pressure on these people the day before Christmas where a ton of donated gifts come pouring in all at once. It is ideal if they arrive on the 12th.

With that said I am all ears for how we can get some more people to join this gift giving experience. If you have ideas please share them. Last year Stahrwe donated about $200 so we won't have that to count on this time. All I can really do to motivate people to give is tell my story here on the forums and make the thread an announcement that gets pinned to the top of every forum. Anything more could be construed as being pushy. Actually, now that I think abut it, I also sent an email out to the community on Nov. 28th. The economy is pretty bad right now so perhaps this year won't be big for us.

Paypal is making me verify my account by mail -- I suppose I should be glad they take security seriously -- once I do that I will toss in a meager few bucks.

Nothing is meager. As I said I got all sorts of toys I now know are cheap as hell and it helped me so much. I got a bunch of little metal cars like Hot Wheels but cheaper. I was too old for those but I played with them all the time. Anything you can donate will be converted into real Christmas presents for real kids.

A few people have asked me via email whether this deadline of December 7th is absolute. The answer is that it is ideal. But if I have reason to believe a few more donations could come in during the days immediately following the 7th then I'll hold off on ordering the gifts. The goal is to make as much of a difference as possible.

I'm surprised a few small donations haven't come in of like $5 and $10. Where is Stahrwe when you need him?

Thank you Chris O'Connor for the $50.00 donation!

Yes, I am thanking myself. Leave me alone. LOL

Thanks Kelstan! Your $50.00 donation has been added to the pot. We're at $100 now.

Thanks Geo! Like last year you have stepped up and made a donation for the kids. Thanks for pitching in $50.00.

I appreciate your generosity and good heart. Those kids will too in a few weeks from now.

Again, I'd like to thank myself for a 2nd donation of $50.00. LOL Seeing you guys helping makes me want to pitch in more and more.

We're at $200.00 now.

And now my wife Tina is getting involved. She just donated $50.

Our total in gifts will now be $250.00.

Can we raise more? Last year we raised about $600.00. I sure would love to meet or beat that total.