The 12 Memories of Christmas!

With 499 individuals adopted for Christmas, including 93 veteran families, there were plenty of Christmas memories in 2025! I would love to share twelve of them with you!

For the FIRST hope of Christmas, I was blessed to see… faith restored in the pantry!

I was carrying gifts for a family into HVAF, and this wonderful veteran volunteering in the pantry offered to help. He made a comment about how nice the set of pots and pans were, and something just tugged at my heart. I realized we had extra gifts and asked him if he had filled out a Christmas form for adoption. We pass out these forms to the veterans who are enrolled in our housing and employment programs. He hadn’t, so I gave this kind veteran the pots and pans. I also had a $50 gift card and ran to get this for him as well. As I handed him the gift card, tears began streaming down his face. He began to tell his story of how the last few months had been a real struggle after he was put on disability and could no longer work. He mentioned this restored his faith and that “someone was looking down on him.” I was so impressed with this man, volunteering to help others while he was struggling himself! We never know what others are facing through their smiles. This donor’s giving impacted his life!

For the SECOND hope of Christmas, I was blessed to see… socks make a girl VERY happy!

These weren’t just any socks; these were NIKE socks! The teenage girl screamed with joy and announced to everyone that she had been given NIKE socks! We cannot ever forget the peer pressure and challenges of adolescence. The fear of not fitting in, and for a single parent who is struggling to survive, NIKE socks are not part of the budget. Yet, a miracle donor at Christmas made this young lady’s Christmas wish come true!

For the THIRD hope of Christmas, I was blessed to see… the healing of a broken family!

This family of five seemed sad and out of sorts at our last Veteran Engagement event, the State Fair. I was confused at first, as the day was filled with such fun rides, great food, and entertainment! I later learned this family was hanging by a thread, and the parents were on the verge of divorce. You can imagine my pure happiness when this same family showed up at our Christmas party together, four months later! They had agreed to give it another chance, seeking out counseling and healing. I could see the joy on everyone’s face as they enjoyed the party, Santa, and the gifts! Sometimes support can extend beyond basic needs and provide support in the toughest of battles, creating a true Christmas miracle!

For the FOURTH hope of Christmas, I was blessed to see… ham enjoyed, no cost to thee!

With 20% of veterans and their families now facing food insecurity, this Christmas, we ensured every veteran would receive a ham or turkey, all the fixings, and a pie for their Holiday meal. We also gave two more bags full of groceries to every family.

When one mother saw the full-sized ham, she reacted in utter joy, remarking how expensive a ham of that size was. It would easily feed their family of six! We gave out 165 baskets to veterans and their families in all our housing properties, thanks to donations from Carrington Mortgage, Holy Spirit Parish at Geist, Cummins, and Vietnam Veterans of America!

For the FIFTH hope of Christmas, I was blessed to see… FIVE SMILING VETS!

Walking through the pantry the Tuesday before Christmas, donors provided warm plated meals for veterans to eat while they waited to shop through the pantry.  The hospitality room was filled with happiness and energy as I wished them Merry Christmas. Veterans visiting the pantry received a little extra that week for the Holiday!

For the SIXTH hope of Christmas, I was blessed to see… the children filled with pure glee! 

The American Legion Auxiliary Unit 145 brought a dump truck filled with 350 gifts that flowed into the room for our Christmas party! The children’s faces ranged from shock, joy, and excitement as many could not believe the number of presents. Each child from nineteen of our families who participate in Veteran Engagement Committee activities received 6 or 7 gifts! Every child got their picture with Santa and enjoyed snacks before leaving with bundles! Staff are already planning on how we can have this party next year in a bigger space!

For the SEVENTH hope of Christmas, I was blessed to see… a Colts fan as happy as can be!

A wonderful donor gave up his season Colts ticket and invited a worthy veteran, Victor, to attend a game with him. Thanks to the Colts and Luke Rhodes, the donor and the veteran were also able to meet Luke and have an on-the-field experience. Victor started with HVAF through the VetWorks program and eventually was hired full-time on HVAF’s maintenance staff. He is a Colts superfan and has never been to a game. It was an easy decision to choose Victor for this blessing. Victor had the night of his life, meeting Luke Rhodes, Blue, and he even kissed the field as he walked on it! Unfortunately, the Colts did not secure a victory, but the memories made were priceless for both the donor and Victor!

For the EIGHTH hope of Christmas, I was blessed to see… a grandma and her community!

This 90-year-old grandmother and HVAF supporter asked for the list of EVERY child in our housing, 73 children in all! By rounding up her friends and neighbors, each child received gifts that were put in handmade bags. This grandmother organized all the gifts and was blessed by her friends, who went above and beyond for the families. There were Chick-fil-a coupons, gas cards, and even gifts for the moms and dads! On top of that, every child received a bag of candy, and every family received a blanket!

For the NINTH hope of Christmas, I was blessed to see… a church adopting 106 with delivery!

Holy Spirit Parish at Geist adopts 100 veterans and their families for Christmas every year! This year, they adopted 106 to help those who had been added at the last minute. In the past, I had never been a part of their delivery process. This year, I was able to witness how they delivered to as many families as they could to all our properties, in addition to donating all the gifts! This greatly helped alleviate the workload of deliveries for staff and gave the donors an opportunity to meet the vets upon delivery!

For the TENTH hope of Christmas, I was blessed to see… a family on a shopping spree!

At the request of a donor, I was asked to be an Uber driver for a day and provide transportation for a family so they could purchase gifts with the gift cards the donor had given them. Throughout the day, I heard tales of their Christmas and how wonderful it was. I saw the family’s love for one another and enjoyed learning more about them. I witnessed them eating their favorite foods at lunch and even discussing college plans and future careers! The most touching moment was when I held the mother’s hand, after she shared some of their life’s struggles with me and began to weep. I reassured her that HVAF will continue to be a support for her family.  She shared how they had lived in their car, and they had never had such a stable time in their lives until now. I could see the fear of losing this stability, returning to the streets with the children in tow. Not that I needed the reminder, but this just reaffirmed how vital this organization is and how life-changing the services are.

For the ELEVENTH hope of Christmas, I was blessed to see… the Carmel Legion and Judy!

Judy Holmes and the American Legion Unit 155 have provided gifts for the veterans living at our largest transitional property, Manchester Apartments, for many years. This year, they also adopted all the veterans at our temporary property, Maple Creek, 55 veterans in all! In addition, after the Manchester fire last year, they quickly assembled and provided furnishings for the 19 renovated apartments in the North Tower. They have already planned to furnish the upcoming additional apartments in the South Tower,  when they open next August! Judy leads the charge of this amazing group, accomplishing great things for our veterans!

For the TWELFTH hope of Christmas, I was blessed to see… a kind staff giving selflessly!   

To coordinate 43 donors, fulfilling 499 veteran wish lists, from over 50 case managers, it takes incredible support, communication, and teamwork! So many HVAF staff members went above and beyond with Christmas deliveries, moving gifts, and coordination. Senior leadership helped organize and coordinate the Holiday Outreach, and many staff members jumped in and helped wherever and whenever they could! This is a special group of people, and it’s reflected in the work HVAF does and the success we see among the veterans and families served!

If you would like to support our Christmas Outreach next year, please contact Andrea Carlile at 765-425-3366 or acarlile@hvaf.org.

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