United Airlines' Operation North Pole 2009 - Yet Another Successful Event!
Cal’s Angels participated in our third Operation North Pole on Saturday, December 5th, 2009 and each year is more fulfilling than the last. United Airlines' employees sponsor a Fantasy Flight to the North Pole where over 50 Chicago area children with serious and terminal illnesses and their families board a plane at one gate and “fly” to another gate done up like the North Pole.
When Operation North Pole contacted us to see if we were interested in participating, of course we said yes because our generous donors have made it possible for us to keep sponsoring awesome events like this for the kids. Instead of just sponsoring a few kids, we decided to sponsor all of the North Pole attendees that are patients at Children's Memorial Hospital which seemed easy at first with only 4 but when the day neared, the number jumped to 11 plus siblings. In all, we were inundated with the wish lists for 33 children so off to our favorite stores we went shopping for anything from clothes, iPods and Wii games to RC cars, Transformers and Hot Wheels. We purchased over 250 items in all that had to be tagged, bagged and wrapped so we sent the word out to our volunteers and were in awe when over fifteen eager wrappers responded with enthusiastic interest in helping. While it's fun and fulfilling to make these kids' days, it's also hard to digest the fact that many of them won't make it to Christmas next year. One of our volunteer wrappers, Mary Jo Lanz, put her thoughts in writing -
Wrapping presents for children at Christmas time is such a fun and exciting thing to do. You anticipate the children’s excitement when opening the gifts and picture how much fun they will have playing with them. But when you are wrapping a toy for a 4 year-old boy and hear the words “he is terminally ill and only has about 4 months to live” present wrapping and Christmas take on a whole new meaning. As I sat surrounded by hundreds of presents Cal's Angels purchased for terminally ill children and their siblings, I couldn’t stop the tears from rolling down my cheeks. I remember thinking to myself, “How could you have been so unaware of all of these children that are fighting for their lives?” As I wrapped the presents for each child, I prayed for them and the strength for their parents during these difficult times. I also hoped that these presents would bring them much joy and to help them forget about their pain and suffering for just a little while.
I honestly walked around for days just thinking about those kids. We get so involved in our every day lives that we often fail to stop and really understand what pain and suffering is happening to children in our area every day. Sometimes, it only becomes apparent to us when it affects our own family, friends or neighbors. But, we must try to remember that even though we may not see it every day, it is out there and all of these children and families really need our prayers and support.
My eye-opening experience while helping Cal's Angels wrap presents for Operation North Pole helped me to sit back and look at the holidays a little differently this year. I tried to really enjoy the decorating, the baking and to treasure the time with my family. I look forward to helping Cal's Angels with Operation North Pole again next year. Just knowing that I am helping to bring some joy to the life of a terminally ill child is one of the greatest gifts of all.
Operation North Pole 2009 Photo Gallery
Past Operation North Pole Photo Galleries