Nashville Christmas
Nashville Christmas Update
This year the Nashville Christmas Program was greatly expanded. With Kathi and Brian Gilleland at the helm, the families in East Nashville will have "the best Christmas ever" .... as one of the families told us on Wednesday as Desana Volunteers handed out over 70 bags full of Christmas gifts. Kathi Gilleland said, "I want these people to have everything on their Christmas list" ..... "...they deserve so much more but I want them to know that there are people who care for them." Enjoy these pictures of delivering the gifts.....
Click here to view these pictures larger
Watch for more pictures of Nashville Christmas..... Kaleigh is going to be handing out sandwiches to the homeless in downtown Nashville on Saturday, December 23rd.
MERRY CHRISTMAS
Let's not forget the real reason for this season!
The greatest Gift of all!
Ordinary People
I met George and Kathy Houk about two years ago. My wife Kathi has known them a lot longer. They are ordinary people.
Hearing their stories about the places they have been and the people they have met facsinated me. I love to travel. What captured my attention most was the true concern and passion they have for helping others. We have enjoyed our friendship with the Houks but I must admit I was not expecting an invitation to be on the Desana Board of Directors.
A search of my past finds nothing remarkable in the matter of giving to others. It's not that I didn't care, I did. It's just that I thought "What good could come from my small contribution?" Maybe that was just a cover for my own selfishness.
Few things in my life have ever managed to bring me the kind of joy I have known from watching my children at Christmas. Seeing them so aware that they are loved and cherished. Every child deserves this.
In these difficult economic times many children won't have a Christmas that makes a real difference in their life. It's not their fault.
Nashville Christmas 2010
Our granddaughter became interested in the homeless population in Nashville. These people are very visible on street corners selling the Homeless Newspaper. One day she commented to us that we (Desana) help people in Peru and Russia..... why don't we do something for these people right here at home. So our Christmas in Nashville Project was born..... on the spur of the moment. With good friend Kathi Gilleland, we started our Nashville Christmas for the Homeless. We prepared about 50 Christmas bags for the homeless of Nashville ..... we handed them out personally to as many people we could find ...... our granddaughter worked very hard on this new project
