Pillows and Blankets

For the past twenty years, the Reverend John T Weyer Council 11343 of the Knights of Columbus in Sugar Land Texas has shared their Christmas with those less fortunate in the area with an event that we call Pillows and Blankets. Each year the Council partners up with a local agency to connect with families who may not have the resources to provide for a nice Christmas. The event started out small as the name says, just simply providing a pillow and blanket to deserving individuals in the area and this year was no exception. We worked with the local Catholic Charities organization at Mamie George Community Center in Richmond Texas that serves Fort Bend County. With their help 20 families in the local area that could use a little extra Christmas cheer were identified and were asked for a wish list of things they may need this Christmas season. The Council was able to allocate about $100 per family to spend, the council went out shopping to try and spread some joy to these needy families. Many of the families were in a program with Catholic Charities where grandparents are supporting their grandkids so the range of gifts we needed to buy was from ages 2 to 83! The most interesting request from an 83-year-old man for a bicycle to help him get to the store each day! The council then sent out their “professional shoppers” to purchase all the gifts and food on the wish lists. We then wrapped and bagged the gifts. On the Saturday before Christmas we invited council members and their families to the parish hall for coffee and donuts before they ventured out to deliver the gifts as a family. We encouraged members to bring their children and grandchildren to share and see how blessed they are to live in this community.