CSS Gives Back: Creating Magical Holiday Memories for Kids by Katy Chambers
‘Tis the season to be charitable! That’s what our team thinks, anyway. Shift Digital prides itself on participating with a vast number of charitable organizations all year ‘round, and the holidays are no exception. So, what are the individual teams here at Shift doing to spread the joy? That’s what Nikki Gray, former customer service specialist, wanted to know. What started in October as a simple inquiry as to what our team could do to help someone in need this holiday season turned into one of the biggest, most rewarding experiences that not even Nikki imagined and in which more than half of our team participated – all thanks to the Angel Tree Prison Fellowship.
Nikki, now promoted to digital strategy specialist, was the mastermind behind this massive undertaking. One of our team members, Abigail Bonsrah, told Nikki about Angel Tree as a possible charity in which we as a group could participate. Upon further research, she knew this was the charity for us. Angel Tree works with local correctional facilities as a liaison between inmates and their spouses/legal guardians of their children in order to bring them gifts for the holidays. Nikki worked hand-in-hand with Angel Tree coordinator, Amanda Nobel, to gather each individual child’s wish-list (38 kids, to be exact), purchase and gather their gifts, and promptly deliver them via “curb-side” delivery (whew!). Beyond our own team, 20 local police officers also donated to this cause. Nikki is overall ecstatic with the outcome of the project and so much went into preparation to ensure successful deliveries.
“It was a huge, but great experience. I personally called every participating parent/guardian and let them know the incarcerated parent wanted to give their child/children a gift, created Christmas-themed wish-lists for the kids, assigned kids to our team to purchase gifts, and had help delivering every gift to the children’s homes on behalf of the incarcerated parent.” Gifts were gathered at the Poppleton office on December 18th and Nikki, on her days off, organized prompt delivery by December 19th – but not without help from a few of our CSS elves! Team member Matt Schearer helped Nikki on their door-to-door present drop.
“The experience was great! Nikki and Kayla (Bonkowski) were really great at wrapping and organizing everything. I helped deliver the packages. It was so nice to see how appreciative and happy the families were! Even with the ongoing COVID craziness, everyone was very welcoming. It definitely put things into perspective, knowing these families won’t be able to spend the holidays together.”
During these trying times, going the extra mile can feel like a lot. Sometimes, even going an extra half-mile is a struggle. Our team really pulled out all the stops to help make these kids’ Christmas wishes come true, some of us adopting three or more kids at once (like Rachel Streu and Marissa Laginess). It’s unanimously agreed, though, that this all wouldn’t have been possible without Nikki’s determination and spirit. From follow-up calls to parents thanking them for participating to purchasing gifts for anyone who couldn’t personally buy one themselves – Nikki says this whole experience left her feeling like a member of each Angel Tree family. According to her, “This is the type of thing you just have to do. Just because.” That’s what family is for.