INDIANAPOLIS — Hundreds of kids living in a local shelter will wake up to Christmas gifts Saturday, thanks to a special store at the Wheeler Mission.
"Even if I'm not there this year, him knowing that it came from me Is a big deal," said Garrett Steele.
Steele is one of the hundreds of people able to give gifts to their loved ones this year, thanks to the Wheeler Mission Christmas store.
Steele was shopping for his nephew.
"It's definitely a blessing to have that opportunity around for us, especially when a lot of us probably wouldn't ask for help in this aspect," Steele said. "It means a lot to be able to give them a little something, let them know it's from me and I got the opportunity to do it, even in a spot where it's been a rough year."
The Christmas Store has provided gifts free of charge for 12 years for past and present mission residents, thanks to community donations. The idea is to empower parents by giving them the opportunity to experience the joy of seeing their children open gifts they picked out.
"There are always tears," said Wheeler's Shawnna Rice. "There are tears from the guests, tears from staff. It's just a really touching time of year. It's a really blessed time of year. I've been here 13 years and there's never been a year since I've been here that I haven't been touched by someone who is extremely grateful."
This will be Wheeler's first Christmas with its new expansion and they're serving more people than ever before. Rice said the community came together to make sure their Christmas Shop was fully stocked.
"It's just an amazing opportunity to serve," she said. "We have had many, many years we had to deny a lot of people because we didn't have the bed space. We have more bed space now. We have an overflow site now. The opportunity to be able to serve more and to make sure more people have safe shelter, especially in the winter time is amazing."
"Wheeler's been a huge blessing in my life," Steele added. God uses them to open different doors."
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