Volunteer opportunities are one of the best parts of Christmas! One of my favorite traditions during the Christmas season is our Christmas Decorating Party. However, it's not at a house or the church. Our high school youth group goes around the corner to a low-income housing building made up of single units in our Heartside (homeless) community. All of the residents who live there have a disability, most a mental disability. Most have been homeless at one time many do not have a family they connect with (though have made deep friendships with those in the community). At our Christmas Party, we decorate their lobby together. We eat pizza and homemade cookies and listen to Christmas music. It's a meaningful way for students (and leaders) to get to know a part of our community who frequently gets forgotten. A little about this year's tree that will go up in their lobby. A few weeks ago, the place we decorate asked for someone to donate a big tree (the one we used last year was missing too many parts...it looked a little like Charlie Brown's tree). I put a message out on Facebook and was surprised that my mom was the one who responded. She still had Grandma's old tree. Christmas was always one of Grandma's favorite times of year and said that she would love to know the tree could go somewhere it would be used to make a difference. I look forward to seeing one of our family trees becoming part of our Heartside family tradition.