A Letter from Charles

“I was witnessing the true spirit of Christmas unfold right before my eyes. I had never seen anything like it. It warmed my heart to know that there were people out there who wanted us to share in the Holiday Magic, just in case we didn’t have anyone.”

Hello,

My name is Charles. Happy New Year. I am a resident of Our Saviour’s Shelter. I’ve only had to make use of Our Saviour’s services on rare occasions – never during the holidays. So it gives me extreme pleasure to share with you the unexpected joy of Christmas here.

First, I want to say that OSH has always been a great place of refuge in the Twin Cities. I’ve never been unable to get back on my feet and gain upward stability using their services. Did I mention the cleanliness factor, as well? Let me just say, it’s an extremely clean facility. Besides residents’ contributions through chores, they also have a custodian, who comes pretty much daily and leaves a sparkling shine in his wake.

Honestly, I could go on and on boasting about OSH and its fantastic staff, who are always ever helpful, but I must get to the main reason for my letter:

On Christmas morning, we awoke to a wonderful breakfast served by these awesome volunteers, who took the time out of their Christmas to serve us, the temporarily downtrodden.

As if that wasn’t enough, after breakfast, the most amazing thing – to me anyway – happened. We, all of the residents, received gifts and care packages from people we’ve never met. That’s right, you read correctly. Anonymous and caring, wonderful human beings saw fit to bless us with new clothing, food, and toiletries.

To say I was completely amazed would be an understatement. I was witnessing the true spirit of Christmas unfold right before my eyes. I had never seen anything like it. It warmed my heart and my soul to know that there were people out there who were thinking of us and wanted us to share in the Holiday Magic, just in case we didn’t have anyone. A light was shining brightly in the darkness. It was the light of hope and love and charity. Something our Lord and Savior must truly have been looking upon with a smile.

That was my Christmas. I just wanted to share this story from all of us here and say Thank You to all of you from the bottom of my/our heart(s). Thank you for everything. God Bless You All!