Booze and philanthropy

It is Christmas Giveaway week at CRC. It is madness. Utter madness. Our 5,000-square-foot warehouse is jam packed with stuff. More than 60 nonprofit agencies are coming to pick it all up. We make piles for them based on the needs of their clients. It is back-breaking work. And we don’t eat well. Actually, that’s not true. We don’t eat right. This week we’ve had ham and sausage biscuits, fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes with gravy, two kinds of Hermitage Bakery chess squares, peanut butter crackers, butter cookies, a little bit of fruit, and Bobbie Cox’s drunken orange cake.

We literally work from 9 in the morning until 5 in the afternoon making these piles. Some agencies serve almost 1,000 people. The large piles are assembled on pallets that are then transported to the staging area by our pallet queen, Kim. We do not need to go to the gym after this. However, we need a little pick-me-up now and again.

“Hey, Kim, ” Betsy texts. “Can you pick up some Bailey’s on the way in?” I think that’s against  CRC’s human resources policy. But I don’t check. We make a pot of coffee. Bailey’s in a little coffee is a very nice way to stay warm in the warehouse. Very nice, indeed. We make a second pot. Our volunteers here to help sort piles are convinced this is the best volunteer opportunity EVER.

But wait. There’s more! After our unhealthy lunch of fast food and bakery goods, it’s cocktail hour. Doesn’t every company offer Chardonnay during their afternoon break? Really? They don’t? How about funny hats? Are we the only company that encourages the wearing of funny hats? Actually, we require it. That may be against our human resources policy, too. I don’t check.

At the end of the week, Betsy, Kim and I will have given away well over $300,000 in gift items to nonprofits that will then distribute them to tens of thousands of people in need. Not bad for three chicks in a warehouse. Hic.