Starting in November I put out the first announcement to the church to start donating money to our project. I keep a spreadsheet the amount of money that was collected each week and continue till the last day people can donate. The announcement each week also mentions to the church that we (our youth-group) are looking for families to help during Christmas.
Throughout the later weeks of November we get all 6 families that we will be providing food, groceries, presents, and a full Christmas meal to. Each family that is helped is connected with a family from our church. The families from our church serve as liaisons with the families to give confidentiality to us and to the families in need.
Once we have all the families in need, I send a google forum to the liaisons to send to the families in need. The families we are helping fill out the forum which asks basic questions like how many are in the family, what gifts they would like, any allergies they may have, and any additional info they would like to provide us. The google forum is linked to a spreadsheet which I can view to see what each family needs. Lastly, I give the grocery shopping lists to two volunteer parents who will go out and purchase the groceries for the day of.
DECEMBER--Days leading up to the event:
In December, a few days before the event, I turn in all the donated checks to our church treasurer so that he can cash them and give me the cash for the actual event.
On the night before the event (Friday), the youth-group comes to my house to bake, frost, and decorate a full plate of cookies for each family that we help.
After everybody leaves, I assign a 6 groups of youth-group members to be shoppers for each of the 6 families in need. Based on the number of people in the family and their needs, I disperse the money we collected into envelopes for the groups to use to purchase the gifts. I print out the wish-lists for each family and put the envelopes of money with the list.
THE DAY OF THE EVENT--the Saturday before Christmas:
I get to the church building at 7:30 a.m. I set up 6 tables and put wrapping paper, gift tags, gift boxes, etc. Each family in need is assigned a table. I label the 6 tables with the last names of each of the adults that are driving the shoppers around. I also set the wish lists on each table so that the shoppers have a general idea of what they are looking for. I write the names of each of the last name of each adult driver on the whiteboard in the front of the room and write which kids are in each car. I also write who will be staying to help in the kitchen and my phone number in case the shoppers need to contact me.
At 8:00 everyone arrives and I make general announcements and go over the whiteboard. I tell them good stores to go to shop and what time I need them to be back. After announcements we say a prayer and then the shoppers take the lists and envelopes and go to shop.
While the shoppers are out buying, in the kitchen we cook and prepare the Christmas meal that we will be giving each family which can be heated up when the family chooses to eat it. We make desserts and organize the cookies that were made the night before. We provide the families with a week's worth of groceries which is organized into bags for each family.
The shoppers come back around 12:00 and it is immediately all hands on deck. Everyone begins wrapping and putting tags on each of the presents. We start putting the Christmas meal and week's worth of groceries onto the table as the kids finish wrapping.
After everyone is back and everything is wrapped we have pizza and wait for the liaison families from church to come pick up the presents, meal, and groceries so they can deliver them to the families in need. I keep a checklist to ensure that every family in need receives presents, groceries, and a full meal.