Youth Fill Christmas Stockings for Refugee Children

Katie Stevenson had been thinking since October how she could involve the youth of the Picketts Mill Ward of the Cartersville Georgia Stake in helping refugees in the Atlanta area. In April, a leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had urged members to “prayerfully determine what you can do according to your own time and circumstances to serve the refugees living in your neighborhoods and communities…This is an opportunity to serve one on one, in families, and by organizations to offer friendship, mentoring, and other Christlike service…”

Katie searched resources in the greater Atlanta area and found that Catholic Charities Atlanta provides services to about 250 refugee families arriving in the Atlanta area each year.

In speaking with Kim Longshore, the refugee coordinator for Catholic Charities Atlanta, Katie learned of their need for Christmas stockings for 50 refugee children filled with hats, gloves, socks and scarves for the winter ahead. Catholic Charities Atlanta provides extensive services to help refugees coming to Atlanta. Their goal is to help them become economically and socially self-sufficient within six months of coming to the United States.

So Katie went to work. She shared the idea with the youth using the theme “What if their story was my story?” The youth enthusiastically embraced the idea.

Macey Curby was really excited about the stocking project. “I picked an 8 year-old little girl because she has such a pretty name,” said Macey. “When my Mom and I went to the store to buy the gloves and scarf for her I told my mom that I wanted to pay for them.” And that is just what she did. After carefully finding just the right scarf and gloves Macey used her birthday money to buy them because she wanted them to be from her. “I wish I could see her face when she opens the stocking,” Macey said wistfully. “I know she’s a beautiful girl.”

“This is the perfect project for us to help children stay warm during the winter months,” said Katie Stevenson. “Our youth loved the idea.” During their activity night at church forty enthusiastic boys and girls assembled the items they had purchased and other members of the congregation had donated for the effort. They had each chosen at least one name of a refugee child and written a personalized note of welcome and good wishes to place in the stockings. As they gathered the stockings, they also carefully folded the new and gently used coats they had collected to place with each one.

The following Saturday Katie and her daughters delivered the stockings to Catholic Charities in Atlanta. On the way home her daughter, Claire, who had tucked a little note in one of the stocking said, “I wish I could know more about Sarah. It would be fun to write back and forth.”