The first year Pattycake did her Christmas thing, we took on 20 kids. I thought it was just send her some money. But it was much like what we do. We had to shop for each child in different countries. The Walmart gift cards didn't work very well
But we did buy a lot of other things too.
I am still pissed that the first year we started, I donated $10,000 to it and nothing was written in the paper. The next day, there was the American Legion with a giant $300 check for Vickie on the front page
I used to hate when I was a kid and being an only child, I got a ton of gifts. My Mother really went crazy Christmas time. And I would ask some of my friends what they got and I would hear, "I got a new pair of pants". Or something similar.
Each year, with donations from local businesses and the money Vickie squirrels away, we end up spending about $300 on each teen. Last year, she had 97 kids. This year it looks like even more.
We get faxes from schools now but she used to have to go to the schools to explain what she was doing and some of the kids would call her Mother Christmas