Giving Back from the Heart
Helping Bring Christmas Hope to Local Families
One of the most meaningful parts of recovery is learning to live for something greater than oneself. Addiction is a deeply self-centered existence. Recovery turns that old life outward and calls for gratitude, compassion, and service. When we interviewed CORE CEO Cary McKee for this article, he rightly noted, “The addict and alcoholic leads a selfish life in their addiction, but in recovery we finally find ourselves in a position where we’re led to give back. Our organization takes great satisfaction and joy in being able to do this.”
For the past five years, CORE has been uniquely positioned to turn the spirit of service in recovery into action, especially at Christmas. Thanks to partnerships with generous area retailers, CORE collects a steady stream of donated merchandise throughout the year: clothing, shoes, toys, sporting goods, tools, bedding, and countless useful household items. None of it is kept by CORE, our staff, or our clients. Cary said, “We’re just the conduit. Everything we collect over the course of the year goes to the community. We’ve got a heart for helping others, because that’s what real recovery is all about.”
The scale of this effort is significant. Each week, CORE’s operations team picks up donations and transports them to one of our storage facilities, where they are sorted, organized, and prepared for distribution during the holidays. Operations Manager Gary Osborn, who has coordinated this effort since its beginning, describes the undertaking as deeply personal. “Growing up, I can remember my family getting assistance from the schools. So, through our partnerships with retailers, collecting donations all year and then seeing it come to fruition for families in need, I’m helping to give back the help given to me in my younger years. I enjoy doing it, as does my crew. We get to play the role of Santa Claus.”
Once donations arrived at CORE, they were placed under the care of Branson Facilities Manager Tamara Spencer, who led teams of volunteers in sorting, inspecting, and preparing each item. “We took everything over to a storage facility,” she explained to us. “We sort it into toys, boys’ clothes, girls’ clothes, women’s clothes, men’s clothes, yard tools, household items — everything you might find at a big box store. Then, at the end of November, we loaded it into trucks and took it to people in need.” Tamara has helped coordinate the effort for four years now. For her, the joy comes from serving quietly and knowing families are being cared for. “We don’t always get to see the outcome,” she said, “but I can imagine what it must feel like for these families, and the fact that we’re able to be part of it is the hugest blessing there ever is.”
This year, CORE partnered with two community organizations: Lodge Ministries in Taneyville and the Hollister School District.
Lodge Ministries held its annual Christmas Joy celebration at the Taneyville School District. It was a community-wide outreach event that transformed the school building into what organizer Stephen Corcoran called “a Winter Wonderland Spectacular.” Thousands of lights, snow globes, decorations, and themed rooms created an unforgettable atmosphere for children and families.
Between six and seven hundred children were served at the event. “Families came in, were served a hot meal, and visited different rooms where they could choose clothing, coats, hats, toys — and at the end, we had a family room so the adults could pick something, too. Everything was free. It let them know they’re special,” said Corcoran.
Lodge Ministries volunteers worked overnight to build this amazing event. It was another reminder that generosity, when multiplied, becomes something extraordinary. In fact, the ministry received such an abundance of merchandise this year that it was able to share clothing items received from CORE with the school districts in Forsyth, Kirbyville, and Taneyville to use as they see fit.
At Hollister, the school district hosted the Holiday Blessing Room, which served 126 families and 256 students directly through the district, with even more families referred through outside agencies. In all, one out of every five children in the district received Christmas assistance.
District Social Worker Melissa Gehman and returning counselor Sandy Brown coordinated the effort, drawing volunteers from the National Honor Society, Civil Air Patrol, Tiger Academy, and Girl Scouts. Together, they helped transform the district’s Tiger Activities Center into a welcoming space where parents could choose, at no cost, what their children needed most. As Sandy said, “Helping people is what it’s all about.”
Hollister Superintendent Dr. Sean Woods described the event as a reflection of what it means to be a true community. “The purpose of this room is to support our students and our families. It’s really about a community wrapping its arms around itself,” he said. “With CORE as a phenomenal partner, and volunteers from across Hollister, everything goes back to the kids, and when we know we can help, I think we have an obligation to help.”
At CORE, we know we have been blessed beyond measure. Giving back is one of the greatest expressions of gratitude we know. Our role is simple: to gather what we’ve been entrusted with, steward it responsibly, and give it away freely. This work is more than service. It’s recovery in action.
As Cary said, “These Christmas events are just one way we’re able to help. If we can give families even a glimmer of hope, that may be the hope they need to find change or move toward a brighter future. We’re all about that, and we look forward to stretching this opportunity into even more communities in the years ahead.”
