That's a Wrap!

I shall never unwrap a gift, recklessly ripping off the paper and tossing it to one side, again, without thinking of the person who carefully wrapped and stuck for me! Mind you, these days I tend to use, re-use and re-use again, those clever paper bags that hold anything from wine bottles to tiny gifts of perfume and biltong!

And why am I carrying on about this? Read on.....

A couple of weeks ago, Ronel (the angel behind the Animal Lighthouse Shelter. Remember we delivered gifts for the animals in the Red-Nose Combi?) sent out an appeal for 'wrappers'... not 'rappers' I hasten to add, but people who would willingly and happily give up a few hours to stand outside Checkers store in the Weskus Mall and wrap gifts for charity. The animal charity that was offered the spot in the first place couldn't find enough volunteers (now I don't wonder why not....) so Ronel was next in line and she jumped at the chance.

I actually questioned why? Surely we wouldn't get any money and I knew from standing at Markets how little money came to us. But she said that we could make thousands of rand, at least five thousand and it would all come to her shelter in the form of vouchers to be used at Checkers.
And so she began...... begging, pleading, asking on Facebook for volunteers to work in shifts, one from 9 to 1 and one from 1 to 6!!

Guess what? A friend of mine from Bookclub put her name down, so I thought 'Ok, I shall join her, it will be fun'!!!

Fun?

Well.
Here are a few tips for anybody that is ready to volunteer for wrapping. I am not talking about the few little gifts that you can do sitting with a cup of coffee at home and no stress.

Me behind Jeannie... still smiling... we had just started!

First. Make sure you have a tape dispenser. Rolls of Sellotape have a knack of re-rolling themselves and you just try to find the end when there is a queue of people waiting to have their gifts wrapped!! That takes two hands and of course once you release the paper that has been nicely folded round a toy, it too springs back and lies there!!

Second. Make sure your scissors are sharp. And you have spares in case you keep knocking them off the table onto the floor which will cause you to release the paper that you were holding round the toy.... see above!

Third. Clear the table of everything!! We had a single trestle table for two of us to work on. That is fine if you are wrapping a bar of chocolate. But at one end we had a stack of pretend gifts, all beautifully wrapped, with a tree on top! At the other end was the box of tape, spare scissors, plasters for those nicks in fingers that must not drip onto the paper......

Fourth. Don't cover the table with a proper cloth. This slips and slides and gets caught up in the tape and scissors (and blood) and could end up being attached to the gifts!!

Fifth. Don't expect to sit and sip a cup of coffee while chatting to the shoppers. We bought boiling hot coffee at the beginning of our shift and threw it away when we left.... stone cold! Ditto with a muffin!!

Sixth. Smile at the people who have square boxes to wrap... and look horrified at those who have huge stuffed animals, toys that come in that moulded plastic with bumps, valleys and sticky-out bits! They are a nightmare to wrap and never look tidy. Suggest that the offending item is put into a large paper bag, or a black refuse bag decorated with tinsel!

Seventh.  Look sad.... that gets the donations rolling in. Although it is a donation and money is not compulsory, have a sign that says 'Donation for Animal Charity' and when people give R20, say 'Oh sorry, we don't have change......' and they will be happy to give it to a worthy cause.

Eighth. Be prepared to get excruciating back pain from bending over the table. I was ready to lie on the floor and have someone run over me with their loaded trolley, so take some pain killers along with you... but drink with water as you will never get to the coffee!

Nineth. (spelling?) Count the money regularly and put the notes in your pocket for safety.

Jeannie and I did two mornings together and if I ever volunteer to do it again, someone slap me!

But... and here's the really good news.... the first morning we took R1000 and the second morning we made R1300....... and there were two shifts a day for at least ten days!!

So tenth..... keep thinking it is worth it because it is!

Merry Christmas!

And that's a wrap!