Grab a cup of hot cocoa and please allow me to read my wish for your holiday season:

T’was the Night Before the Holidays:

‘T’was the night before the holidays, when all thro’ the organization
Not a marketer was stirring, not even administration;
The recruitment ads were out in the media with care,
In hopes that new volunteers soon would be there;
Staff members were nestled all snug in their beds,
While worries of slim budgets danc’d in my head.

 And I at my keyboard, pulled up the volunteer requests,                

“Eight volunteers for tomorrow? Oh gosh, now I’m stressed.”
When out in the parking lot there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my cubicle to see what was the matter.
To the window I flew over piles of work,
Tore open the miniblinds, and moved the whiteboard with a jerk.
The blinking of messages on my cell phone screen,
Made the unfinished filing an eerie green;
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a tall group leader who gave a big cheer
With a youth group in tow, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be Coach Nick.
More welcome than lunch breaks his team they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and call’d them by name:
“Now! Danny, now! Derek, now! Pujesh and Vinnie,
“On! Carlos, on! Carrie, on! Deidre and Minnie;
“To the files! To the clients! To the hosting of the gala ball!
“Now dash away! Get in the fray! Dash away all!”
As dollars from donors to marketing fly,
The work that needs doing, this team will supply;
So into the building, now one, two, three run,
With no complaints‍—‌they said this was fun:
And then in a twinkling, I was so beguiled
To see that each stack of reports had been filed.
No questions they asked, they just got so busy,
While Coach Nick came to me as I was feeling dizzy:
He was dress’d all in uniform, from his head to his knees,
And he said, “how can we help you some more, if you please”;
He brought volunteer applications dusted with glitter,
And said he had read my volunteer ad on Twitter:
Our cause made his team feel like they should be giving,
Then he looked at me and said, “now you make a living
helping others all day and so we’ll help you.
You’re an unsung hero, one of just a few
who work so hard to give others a chance,
to feel loved and not burdened by their circumstance.”
He signed in as requested which gave me a fright
That now I had good help-at least for this night:
He got back to work, and didn’t complain,
And the team he brought with him all seemed quite sane;
They whisked through data entry and none were left brain dead
And soon I knew I had nothing to dread.
Nick gathered his team and encouraged them with meaning,
And they finished putting together packets; and even did some cleaning,
Then looking around, and seeing it was complete
They took a few selfies and sent out a tweet.
He sprung to his SUV, where he waved out the door,
And happily the volunteers flew, while still looking for more:
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight‍—‌

“Happy Holidays to all, we’ll be back another night.”

-Meridian