A small child doesn’t know what economic recession, unemployment, tobacco quota cuts or welfare reform means or how they relate to a family’s finances, or lack thereof. A child’s focus is on child-like things. And, at this time of year, that means Christmas gifts, special foods and candy, Santa Claus.

For parents in Lewis County, Ky., who are experiencing economic hard times firsthand, this time of year is filled with increased stress and frustration. How to afford gifts for their children when they have a hard time meeting their daily expenses?

The answer: Project Merry Christmas.

Thanks to this annual ecumenical effort, needy families in one of Kentucky’s poorest counties have had merrier Christmases for the past 17 years. Project Merry Christmas is sponsored by the local ministerial association, of which Glenmary’s Holy Redeemer mission is an active member, and it is supported by countless volunteers and donations.

Holy Redeemer in Vanceburg, known locally as simply “the Catholic church,” has been involved since year one in organizing Project Merry Christmas. Providence Sister Joseph Fillenwarth, pastoral coordinator of this Glenmary mission parish, has been one of the chief organizers of the project for the past 10 years.

Project Merry Christmas makes it possible for those in need to “buy” new Christmas gifts for their children. Last year, over 350 families benefited from the program with over 400 children receiving new clothes, toys or books.

“It’s really quite amazing,” says Sister Joseph. “Seeing the happiness on the faces of those ‘buying’ the gifts really makes the holiday season for those involved.”

“The opportunity to choose gifts instead of being given gifts to give is an empowering experience for the shoppers,” Sister Joseph says. “It makes the whole experience a little more personal.”

Vanceburg is located 100 miles southeast of Cincinnati in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. Sister Joseph laughs as she points to her telephone which has the entire parish membership on speed dial. “We’re about 25 registered families, but really we’re one big family,” she says.

There is still some prejudice in the area towards Catholics, Sister Joseph admits. But with the presence of Holy Redeemer and the Glenmary Farm (the home of Glenmary’s volunteer program) as well as the Christian Community Center and People’s Self-Help Housing, locals are very aware of the Catholic presence and where assistance is available.

The role of Catholics helping organize and run Project Merry Christmas also gives more visibility to the Catholic church.

Economic hard times have always been a part of this Eastern Kentucky county. But the past couple of years have been especially hard. The last of the factories in the county closed in 2000. Government assistance programs cut back that year, too, as did the quotas for tobacco farmers. The closest work opportunities are now 20 miles north in Maysville, but even there, the opportunities are few and far between.

In Appalachian culture, connection to county, place and family are very strong. That makes it difficult for many to pick up the family and move in search of work. But even if a family is willing to move, they often find themselves in a Catch-22: To make money they need to move, but they have no means of making money to move.

But for one day in the middle of December, the frustration caused by financial and work worries is replaced by the giving spirit of the season.

Organizing Project Merry Christmas begins in November when solicitation for pledges and donations to buy food vouchers begins. Local businesses and organizations in the county are asked to donate cash toward the event with the goal of raising at least $6,000. Catholic parishes in the Diocese of Covington, Ky., and the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, Ohio, which are annual partners for Project Merry Christmas, also collect new toys, clothes and other gifts at this time for Sister Joseph. And volunteers to work the event are also confirmed by Sister Joseph before the “big push” in December.

Donated items arrive in Vanceburg the first of December. The day before Project Merry Christmas, those items are sorted according to age, assigned a worth of 25, 50, 75 or 100 points and grouped in rooms in a vacant building once used as a hotel in Vanceburg.

This is when the volunteers become indispensable, according to Sister Joseph. While the ministers of the ministerial association have registered the shoppers and handled the paperwork involved, the actual set up and shopping are made possible because of the volunteers.

On shopping day (usually the week before Christmas), excited shoppers begin lining up, in the cold, at 6 a.m. waiting for the doors of the hotel to open at 10 a.m. Each year, the shoppers are told they don’t have to get there early, that there will be enough gifts to go around. But the excitement about Christmas shopping always seem to be greater than their desire to stay warm a little longer.

Shoppers are given 100 points per child to spend any way they want, either in one lump sum or on several things which add up to 100 points. In addition to shopping points, shoppers are given a $25 food voucher as well as school supplies, a stuffed toy, and a book for each child.

A volunteer accompanies each shopper through the hotel turned shopping mall, keeping track of the points spent. Last year, volunteers came from as far away as Massachusetts and Minnesota and as close as the Glenmary Farm to help out with Project Merry Christmas.

Barbara Stygles and Eugenie Coakley, members of Women in Service to Appalachia, are annual volunteers for Project Merry Christmas. They fly into Cincinnati from Boston and then drive two hours to Vanceburg for two days of work. “You really feel like you make a difference in this short time,” Barbara said as she organized the 2-and-under room. “It’s exhausting but wonderful.”

For three hours, the line of shoppers files nonstop through the hotel, filling boxes with gifts that will be opened by excited children—board games, dolls, CD players, clothes, a warm coat, socks and underwear. Trying to decide what their children would like most and, more importantly, need most is the challenge for the shoppers.

“I don’t know what we would do without (Project Merry Christmas),” said one shopper. She and her husband have two small children. “Times are just really hard, and I don’t know how I could explain to my kids why Santa missed our house.”

But the volunteers aren’t only needed for Project Merry Christmas. They also help Sister Joseph sort, bag and distribute personal items and gifts donated by members of Holy Redeemer to the local nursing home the day prior to Project Merry Christmas. The gifts are delivered with a note that simply says, “Merry Christmas from the Catholic Church.” Last year over 100 bags and gifts were given out.

Volunteers distribute the gifts, help the patients open them or just sit and visit. The gifts are met with smiles and at times tears. “They just love the company and knowing that someone remembers them,” Eugenie Coakley says.

The mention of “Glenmary” in the nursing home brings smiles. Although nursing home staff and residents don’t necessarily associate Glenmary with the Catholic Church, they associate it with “the Catholic camp” (that is, the Glenmary Farm). The hundreds of Farm volunteers who come to Vanceburg are visible year-round in the community, volunteering for a local home building agency, visiting the nursing home as well as a day center for the developmentally disabled.

“I don’t know what we’d do without them [Glenmary],” said an employee at the nursing home. “They have been a real help and asset to the community.”

It’s not always easy to meet the needs of all those who come for spiritual or material assistance, Sister Joseph says. “But whether it’s through Project Merry Christmas, helping someone escape an abusive situation or helping someone meet their utility or food bills, God provides for us.”