The smell of freshly cooked ham wafted through the air. Brightly lit trees surrounded the room. And Andy Williams was crooning "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year."
Fifty families had gathered on this Saturday afternoon.
All celebrating. All grateful.
And all homeless.
The event last weekend was a holiday party hosted by EA Sports at its Maitland office. The video-game maker had offered to provide Christmas to every single family staying at the Coalition for the Homeless.
My family was lucky enough to help out, serving food and handing out presents.
It was an afternoon full of lessons.
About need, compassion and counting our blessings.
The need could be seen in the eyes of Denise Gundel, a 44-year-old, college-educated mother of three who never imagined she would be destitute.
Gundel had always enjoyed working. But when the economy turned bad, a good job in market research gave way to a lesser-paying one as a waitress.
Then that disappeared. Now Denise works whatever hours she's offered — usually just a few each week — cleaning time-share units.
Gundel tries to stay positive. In fact, she spent much of last week infusing holiday cheer into the shelter.
Using scissors, crayons and brown packing paper, she crafted a two-dimensional fireplace — and even found a few stockings at a local thrift shop to hang around it.
Gundel smiled while describing the busy work. Yet after her 14-year-old daughter left to chat with other homeless teens, her smile gave way to a trembling lip.
"She's doing good, but she wants to get out of there," she said of her daughter. "It's just so hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel when you're desperate to work and can only do it one day a week. We were only supposed to be here a week or two. Now it's been two months."
That's where the compassion comes in — with companies such as EA Sports and its unheralded acts of altruism.
Employees for the video-game maker serve meals at the shelter year-round. And when company officials were planning their office party this year, they realized that they could simply double up on everything — and duplicate the Friday night party the next day for families in need of holiday cheer.
