GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo. (KDVR) — It was a blitz of boxes, wrapping paper and ribbons. A festive flurry of Scotch tape and name tags. Dozens of volunteers with a non-profit called Christmas Commandos, spending a December Saturday wrapping gifts for people they don’t even know, all in an effort to bring hope to the heartbroken.
“Our mission is to bring love and support to families who’ve experienced an out-of-order loss. Families who’ve experienced the death of a child, the death of a partner or a parent too soon,” said Claire Johnston, Executive Director of the charity. “Families that we’re delivering to today and that we’ve delivered to over 26 years since our inception have included death by suicide, death by illness, death by cancer, death by homicide. It doesn’t matter. Loss is loss, grief is grief.”
The Christmas Commandos started in Indiana in 1998; now they’re helping grieving families in Colorado and beyond.
The families that have suffered loss are nominated, then volunteers go shopping for them. Volunteers then gather days before Christmas to wrap the gifts and prepare for their anonymous delivery on the family’s front porch.
“We know how difficult their holiday season must be and we want them to know that their community loves them,” Johnston said.
“They don’t know who it is. So they think it’s their neighbor, their mailman, their teacher, their minister. And they literally, I have heard back from families that their hearts just grow because they feel the love pouring in and they have no idea,” Lynn Viater, founder of the charity, said.
Bri Dimit knows how special it is to be on the receiving end of this kind of joy. The Christmas Commandos showed up at her house a few years ago when her mother died.
“When we came home to all these decorations from the Christmas Commandos and it just felt like the Christmas spirit was alive and yeah it just it really it’s life-changing,” Dimit told FOX31.
Now Dimit is returning the favor, volunteering with the organization in the hope of changing the lives of other grieving families.
“We spend about $200 on each surviving family member for their individual gifts, but then every family gets what we call a universal gift. A cozy blanket, a fun game, a journal, a necklace, a candle,” Johnston said.
Johnston recently took over “Chief Commando” duties from Vieter, her mother, who started the non-profit nearly 30 years ago after an illness left Claire’s future uncertain.
“I am a pediatric cancer survivor. When I was 15 months old, I was diagnosed with liver cancer. All of us were lucky enough to walk out with me as a survivor, but they met a lot of families who did not have that outcome,” said Johnston. “And my mom started wondering how she could support and love these families who have lost their child. And that’s where it grew out of.”
Now, more than 5,000 families have received a holiday surprise courtesy of the Christmas Commandos, including a family in Denver just last Friday.
“This family tragically lost their wife and mom, so we’ve got a dad and daughter that we’re bringing gifts to tonight,” said volunteer Kaitlyn Vieter, as she unloaded an SUV loaded with gifts for a grieving family.
Vieter and other volunteers anonymously delivered a massive boxload of Christmas gifts on the front porch of the family’s home, and decorated their trees with tinsel and ornaments.
“It went really great. We were able to put all of our decorations up and drop off the package and our angel statue without getting caught,” said Johnston. “So now we just wait and hope that they find this and that it brings them such joy in this season of loss that we know they’re navigating. This is our first one of this season, and it just brings me so much joy to know what we’ve delivered to them. It feels really good.”
Those wanting to donate to the Christmas Commandos, or volunteer with their holiday efforts, can visit their website.