- December 31, 2024
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For Karen Shoemaker, volunteering has always just been another way to help a neighbor in need.
“I've always liked to help people, and you can give back in different ways,” Shoemaker said. “That's the way I was raised: reach out and help, even if it's nothing more during the day than opening a door for somebody carrying three bags of groceries and two kids trailing along.”
For the last decade, that has meant being Nadine King’s right hand at the nonprofit, Christmas Come True. Shoemaker said she found Christmas Come True after reading a blurb in the paper about King and the nonprofit.
“Since Christmas is my favorite time of year, when I retired I thought, ‘okay, let me check this out,’” she said. “And here I am, still.”
Christmas Come True is almost a year-round operation, Shoemaker said. Flagler County families apply to be part of Christmas Come True online and then are interviewed by volunteers before being added to the nonprofit’s list. Those who make the list fill out a paper for each child in the home, listing their age, clothing sizes, favorite colors and what toys the child wants.
Each child receives a full outfit — socks, shoes, pants, shirts, a hat, underwear — alongside a stocking full of toiletries and the presents. From there, volunteers group the families' presents together to be picked up ahead of Christmas.
That's the way I was raised: reach out and help."
— KAREN SHOEMAKER, Christmas Come True volunteer
Some of the gifts are donated from outside organizations and, for someone who touts herself as “not a computer person,” Shoemaker is the one who reaches out to and organizes those donations from other organizations.
Elaine Lajoie, a former Christmas Come True volunteer, considers Shoemaker a close friend. Shoemaker is really an amazing person, she said, with "such a heart."
"She's an all-around good person," Lajoie said. "You'd be hard pressed to find someone who would say anything other than that."
They grew to be friends while volunteering together, Lajoie said. Shoemaker was the person who kept the group focused, even as they were all having fun together, and even when things were stressful.
"She'd say, 'Remember the cause. Remember why you're doing what you're doing,'" Lajoie said. It's a philosophy Lajoie still carries with her, years after hearing it from Shoemaker the first time.
Without Shoemaker's efforts, fellow volunteer Lisa Ruberg said, Christmas Come True would not have the helmets it receives from Florida’s Arrive Alive program for the bicycles Christmas Come True hands out, or the myriad of book donations it receives, or donations of Salt Life brand merchandise or soccer balls.
The nonprofit would have none of that if it weren't for Shoemaker's efforts, Ruberg said.
“We’re a very grassroots nonprofit,” she said. “So when somebody donates 50 soccer balls, that’s huge.”
Ruberg has worked with Shoemaker for four years now. Her contribution to Christmas Come True over the years is “probably in the tens of thousands of dollars,” she said.
“Karen is just one of those people who is a worker bee,” Ruberg said. “You set her to a task, and she’s really, really good at it.”
But Shoemaker is also the person who makes everyone feel welcome, from the new volunteers to the people applying for help, she said.
“She’s extremely dependable,” Ruberg said. “She’s the person that you know you can call.”
For the 2024 Christmas season, Shoemaker said Christmas Come True had received a donation of around 400 books from a nonprofit that isn’t even in Florida.
Helping families at Christmas is especially important to her, Shoemaker said. Some of her fondest memories are during the holiday season. Both sets of her grandparents lived nearby, so Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were always big celebrations.
One of the reasons Shoemaker loves working with Christmas Come True is because of the happiness she said it always brings the families. The families helped can’t afford Christmas for their children, she said, and through Christmas Come True these parents can still give their children presents without having to go further into debt.
There’s still great, good people in this world, spreading kindness, and not just thinking just of themselves.”
— KAREN SHOEMAKER, Christmas Come True volunteer
Shoemaker said she wishes most she could see the looks on the children’s faces on Christmas morning as they open up their new gifts.
“[These] children maybe have never, ever had anything new, all of their own,” she said. “They've had hand me downs or go without.”
Shoemaker said she can relate to that feeling — her family never had a lot of extra money to go around. Even as an adult, she said, her and her husband often worked two jobs.
“My family never had extra money,” she said. “But we had a decent good life.”
Her favorite part of working with Christmas Come True, she said, is seeing the number of people that will go out of their way to help out, even if it is just to provide one gift for one child in the program. Kindness goes a long way, she said.
“There’s still great, good people in this world,” she said, “spreading kindness, and not just thinking just of themselves.”
