Shona had heard about the Santa’s Secret Helpers volunteers, but she’d never met any of them. What she didn’t know was that they provided the gifts for The Christmas Wish Program. But that still didn’t make what they were doing here any clearer. It was only the end of September. Either Santa’s Secret Helpers were incredibly organized, or they’d forgotten Christmas was three months away.
It wasn’t until they were halfway down the corridor that their clandestine visit to the center’s kitchen made sense. “Are you one of the secret helpers?” she asked Joseph.
He looked over his shoulder at John. “No, I’m the person who pays for the wishes.”
“Oh.”
“Keep moving,” John whispered. “Shelley will find us if we keep talking.”
The kitchen was only a few steps away. When they crept through the door, no one paid them any attention. But as soon as Shona saw the volunteers, she was even more confused. “Andrea’s here.”
Joseph cleared his throat. “Welcome to the Santa’s Secret Helpers head office.”
* * *
When Joseph heardabout Santa’s Secret Helpers from John, he’d thought it was a small group of people who did chores around other people’s houses at Christmas. It wasn’t until he heard about the electric wheelchair they’d bought for a boy with motor neuron disease that he realized the extent of what they did.
Before Joseph arrived in Sapphire Bay, John spent most of his time trying to find sponsorship for the programs the church ran. The most expensive was The Christmas Wish Program. Not that it needed to be. They could have stopped at providing Christmas gift baskets, but John dreamed big—and the issues facing many of the families in Sapphire Bay were even bigger.
Some well-timed Facebook posts by Mabel had provided one-off funding, but they needed something that was more sustainable. That's when Joseph became involved.
Until today, the only people who knew he helped fund the program were John and Shelley.
“What’s Andrea doing here?” Shona asked.
“She’s one of the Santa’s Secret Helpers volunteers,” John said.
Andrea must have sensed Shona’s keen interest in what she was doing. She looked up from packing groceries into a box and walked across to them. She gave Shona a warm hug before scrutinizing her face. “I’m assuming you and Joseph are okay?”
Shona nodded.
Joseph wanted to wrap his arm around her and tell her everything would be okay. Her response to Andrea’s question wasn’t what a woman in love would give her friend. She looked a little dazed, as if she was confused by what was happening.
“How long have you been working here?” Shona asked her.
“For about eighteen months. Without this program, I don’t know how the boys and I would’ve survived. As soon as I was able, I asked John if I could be part of the Santa’s Secret Helpers team. Are you and Joseph joining us?”
“We’re—”
“Thinking about being part of the team,” Joseph said quickly. “John’s showing us around.”
“That’s wonderful. Paris is one of the volunteers, too, but she couldn’t make it tonight. We didn’t tell you because it’s supposed to be a—”
“Secret?”
“Correct.” Andrea grinned at Shona. “I need to pack some more groceries. We have a few extra orders that need to go out tonight. Come and see me before you leave.”
“I will.”
Sensing that Shona was a little overwhelmed, Joseph looked at John and asked, “Are you ready to show us around?”
John glanced at his watch. “We have forty minutes until the first van leaves. Follow me.”
Before Shona could ask where they were going, John whisked them to another table. Instead of groceries, this team of volunteers was putting together backpacks filled with pajamas, toothbrushes, underwear, books, and soft toys.
John picked up one of the backpacks and placed it in a box with some others. “We’ve had a surge in the number of families coming to Sapphire Bay who need extra help. Some of them arrive with next to nothing, so it’s important we make sure they have somewhere to sleep, give them healthy food, and get them into a new routine. For the children, that means going to school. These backpacks are the first thing they receive when they register at The Welcome Center. If the children need laptops and stationery, we sort that out later.”
Shona looked at the box of backpacks. “And it’s completely free?”
