Anne Geddy Cross smiles a lot, and her smile gets bigger and her eyes get a special twinkle when she talks about her recent experience as the 2011 Hanover Christmas Mother.

The program has been in existence since l949 and has been operated by the Doswell Ruritan Club for 23 years.

One reason Cross has such a big smile is the fact that last year’s Christmas Mother drive raised enough money to pay for everything needed. For 2011, $77,000 was spent, helping 865 families, including 83 seniors and 1,773 children. The totals were an increase of 82 families and 134 children.

“The Ruritans will accept donation for the Christmas Mother Program year-round,” Cross said. “However, most of the work is done from about the last week in October when the person who will be the Christmas Mother is announced until the middle of December when distribution occurs.”

She said education and the involvement of more young people were two reasons the program was so successful this year.

“The Ruritans do a great job of getting the word out about the program,” Cross said. “They run newspaper ads starting in September telling people about the program and how to apply, and every time I had an event to attend, I always took some time to talk about the program and its history.”

“I think they are seeing a lot more young folks involved,” she added. “I’m talking about elementary, middle and high school children doing school projects, church and club projects. They contributed canned food, mittens they’ve made, money they’ve raised and other items.”

Each year, Cross said, a county Ruritan club is asked to invite someone to reign as the Christmas Mother.

“The Courthouse Ruritan Club asked me,” she said. “Our family had made donations to the Christmas Mother Program over the years but had never really participated.”

Cross said the Ruritans operate like a well-oiled machine when it comes to running the program.

“They literally get truckloads of canned goods,” she said. “They have to sort them according to product, and then bag the items or put them in boxes. They have a system they use to sort everything from food items to toys to prepare donations for distribution.”

The people helped by the Christmas Mother Program come from applications people fill out and from recommendations by social services organizations.

Cross said there were two memories from her time as Christmas Mother she will remember a long time.

“Distribution Day was Dec. 18,” she said. “I got up that morning and drove to the Mechanicsville Fire Station. When I arrived, there was a line stretching outside the building, and it never got any shorter. People were there with their letters to pick up their boxes. I went around saying hello, speaking to a lot of them. Everyone was so thankful and wanted to tell me why they were there. I was surprised at the number of young couples there with children because they had lost their job and hadn’t been able to find work. Some of the people in line handed me thank you letters and notes. They all seemed so grateful for what they were receiving.”

Another memory she shared occurred when she went to the Doswell Community Center for the lighting of the Christmas tree.

“They actually had two trees decorated, one inside the building and one outside,” Cross said. “When I got there, I was directed to sit next to a little girl dressed like a snow princess.
She was 4, maybe 5 years old, and had a wand that turned on either one, or both trees, when she waved it.”

If someone is in need at Christmas, she said the Ruritans never say no. They had people come to them on Distribution Day and ask for help. “They gave them an application and told them to fill it out and where to bring it a few days later,” Cross said. “Then they were also taken care of.”

Cross said she would recommend to anyone asked to be the Christmas Mother to accept.

“It’s a wonderful experience,” she said. “I would welcome the opportunity to someday do it again, but I think once you’ve done it that they don’t ask you a second time.”