HO… HO… HO!
Well by now some 9,000 of our dearest friends have received this year’s Holiday Card.
As you well know it isn’t Santa and Dana Carrozza-Claus behind all these well wishes and work. There are some amazing elves young and old happily sitting by warm winter fires and laboring with love to get NINE THOUSAND SEASONS GREETINGS CARDS out to you.
This Holiday we’d like to pull the North Pole curtain back just enough to introduce you to a few of those helping this year.
At the top of the list, we’ll start with the older and move to the younger.
This is the Sanderson family: Dave and Michelle, the Mr. and Mrs. followed by [left to right] Charlie, Ben, and Truman. Michelle will tell the family story this year, “When the days get shorter and colder and the month of thankfulness passes by as the month of cheer approaches, many prepare for and have annual traditions in their homes and communities. Along with those traditions comes an act of service our family looks forward to every year, that is, the labeling, stuffing, and sealing of the Sacred Selection holiday cards.
When I learned that 9,000 cards will be sent out this year…yep, 9,000 isn’t that amazing! I knew we needed to step up and take on more this year than we ever have in the past! Last year we did 1,000, so we opted for 1,500 cards this year. This would be challenging especially with the business of our boys and their school and sport schedules, but with some perseverance I was confident we could meet our goal.
Here’s our How-To Guide on how we prep the cards for delivery.
- Comfortable seating. We’ve found that making an assembly line is best. We’ve done both sitting on a couch and around a table. Sitting on a sectional couch is by far the most comfortable option and it allows you to work for longer periods of time. Sitting around a table provides plenty of space between people and seems more orderly because nice piles can be made in between stages of assembling the cards.
- Cozy clothes that aren’t restrictive for moving your arms.
- Select a good movie or show to watch or listen to music while you work. Light-hearted, feel-good movies or up beat music are ideal.
- Divvy out the jobs. You will need at least 4 people, 5 would be optimum so everyone will have just one step. Start with one person to open the envelope box and apply the stamp. Try to give this job to someone very responsible since this is the most expensive piece of the job. Next, one person to apply the return address sticker, then one person to apply the address sticker. Your fourth person will put the holiday card into the labeled envelope, and if you have one more person, then the 5th person will rip off the envelope paper that covers the sticky adhesive and seal it. I usually take the job of the 4 and 5th person so I can take one last glance to make sure the envelope has everything it needs before placing it in a box to take to the post office.
We work for just an hour to an hour and half at a time, so we stay motivated for the next time we work on the cards. In fact, usually the boys ask to work a little longer, but this ensures we not only get some work done, but we also get to spend some time together, so it’s a win-win.
Of course, this is what works for us and in years prior we’ve also attended and hosted groups of kids to come over to label, stuff and seal the envelopes.
How did we hear about Sacred Selections? Dana and David used to live here locally. The boys know how important the work they do is and how we get to share in that by doing this small part for them and for all the contributors and babies. We hope you enjoy the holiday cards and if your last name starts with an A, B or C, chances are, we stuffed and labeled your card. I apologize if the labels aren’t perfectly straight (teaser: most of them are a little crooked) but know that they were labeled, stuffed and sealed with love from kids for kids.
Wishing you all the happiest of holidays and a wonderful new year!
The Sanderson Family
P.S. We’re already looking forward to next year’s batch!
