Christmas at Boys and Girls Country (BGC) is a magical time filled with celebrations, presents, fellowship and love. It is special to see the excitement and joy through the eyes of a kid who is new to BGC like Shiloh. For so many kids who come to BGC, Christmas is associated with the pain and abuse they experienced in the past. We are blessed that when they come here they have a new family to help them create happy memories.
Shiloh’s first Christmas at BGC began with a visit to Color Me Mine, where he painted with his BGC friends and met Santa. The next celebration was the San Jacinto High Rollers’ annual toy run. As the club members paraded by on their motorcycles, Shiloh waved and cheered. He said he had never seen so many motorcycles in one place!
When it came to decorating his cottage, Shiloh was thrilled with the theme his cottage family selected: the movie “Elf.” He wore a custom T-shirt along with his cottage brothers, and everyone was given a role to play for the Tour of Lights event. Their hard work decorating the cottage paid off because they won second place! The boys were all smiles that night.
Day of Wonder is when sponsors of each cottage celebrate Christmas with the cottage families with food, gifts, a festive activity and the birth story of Jesus. “We opened our presents, made gingerbread houses, and then we ate some yummy food,” Shiloh said.
Many of our kids visit their family for Christmas, but it’s not always the case depending on the situation at home. On Christmas day, Shiloh celebrated at a staff member’s house with a friend from BGC. They played outside in the beautiful weather, enjoyed some of their new toys and tried their first traditional Christmas dinner.
Thanks to all of the generous donors and supporters of BGC, Shiloh not only had an amazing time celebrating Christmas, but he received a number of exciting presents. Some of his favorites are his new LEGO Technic set, remote-controlled car, robot set and coding set.
When asked how his first Christmas at BGC was, Shiloh said, “it was the best thing I’ve ever done.”
Thank you for helping our kids grow up in a loving and stable family environment.
