Community of Willmar, Minnesota, answers nursing home residents' Christmas wishes
Dec. 24—WILLMAR
— The Christmas spirit relies on blind faith.
That's essentially all Felicia Vandeveer Mathwig had to go on when four years ago she, her husband, Chris, and her co-workers at the time in what is now the Uptown Willmar Mall erected a Christmas tree festooned with paper ornaments. Each ornament asked for a specified gift on behalf of an unnamed nursing home resident.
To her delight, every ornament was plucked off the tree and returned with a present matching the Christmas wish of its intended recipient.
This year, four trees went up at locations including the Uptown Willmar, Salon Nouveau, Après Soleil Tanning Salon, and Home State Bank.
The story repeated itself: On Friday, with help from her grandchildren, Mathwig began distributing 349 gifts to nursing home residents at Bethesda, Copperleaf, Brookdale and Prairie Cottage in Willmar, as well as Glen Oaks in New London, and to homebound seniors assisted by Lutheran Social Services in the area.
This holiday gifting has been growing every year, said Mathwig.
All of the credit, she said, belongs to the Willmar community and the generosity of all the people who pick an ornament and shop for the requested gift. "The community makes this happen," she said.
That includes wrapping the presents. Volunteers with the Willmar Rotary and Kiwanis clubs and from the Kandiyohi County Food Shelf helped with those duties.
Mathwig appreciates all the help. She is the manager of the Kohl's Department Store in the Uptown Willmar Mall. It's no stretch of the imagination to say her days are every bit as busy as those at Santa's workshop this time of year.
Yet she concedes that her role of handing out the gifts is the very best duty of them all. "Seeing the residents get them, that's what's fun," she explained.
"It amazes me, the simple things they ask for," said Rebecca Peterson, of Bethesda Willmar, as she assisted in distributing gifts to residents there. The residents' Christmas wish list was mostly for simple things, including items such as pajamas and socks, puzzle books, or nail polish and lotion. One woman asked for "anything John Wayne," and another said she'd love a year's supply of microwave popcorn.
No matter how modest the Christmas wish, each was greeted with an ear-to-ear smile and words of thanks as the recipients opened the gifts.
Along with the specific gifts, Mathwig said Culver's restaurant of Willmar donated 350 coupons for free ice cream. Gurley's of Willmar donated 60 cans of nuts as gifts. The Willmar VFW also helped out to make sure that every veteran in the area nursing homes received a gift.
It's all about the generosity of the community, Mathwig repeated. "It really, truly was."
