I love giving and receiving usable gifts. Little trinkets and knickknacks are not a part of my giving.
On the morning of Dec. 12, I had the pleasure of assisting my fellow Vermont Yankee employees with an Entergy-sponsored grocery-shopping trip to support Project Feed the Thousands.
The mission: purchase as many everyday food necessities as possible - soups, pasta, cereal, peanut butter, tuna.
The employee shoppers dispersed in groups of two, armed with a shopping assignment, a list of the weekly sale items, and a shopping cart.
Two coworkers and I positioned ourselves at the end of a Hannaford cash register to help bag the groceries and load them onto an industrial-sized cart. From the cart, the purchases would eventually be loaded onto a truck and delivered to the Brattleboro Area Drop-in Center.
In less than 15 minutes, the first shopper team pushed their cart to our register. It was filled with groceries galore.
The cashier rang up what seemed like the store's entire shelf stock of our assigned items, and we bagged them. We then started to brainstorm other items that users of Project Feed the Thousands would enjoy for the holidays.
We piled on granola bars, popcorn, juice, teas, coffee, and hot chocolate. The more carts that the shoppers brought to the register, the more excited I became to see what they had chosen to give.
To many of us, these are items that are readily accessible and may not be on our Christmas lists. For others, these gifts of groceries are necessary, usable, and appreciated.