For the third year in a row, Highland Packaging Solutions has decked the halls of the Florida Baptist Children’s Homes in Lakeland.
Thirty-six oversized stockings filled with wrapped presents and a Christmas dinner were delivered to the Lakeland campus Thursday, Dec. 15. Highland Packaging purchased Christmas wish list gift items for 15 children this holiday season.
The extra stockings and gifts will be given to kids who are admitted to the Lakeland campus throughout the Christmas season.
“Three years ago, we knew that there were needs,” Steve Blackwelder, Highland Packaging’s vice president of human resources, said. “We have over 400 people here. We knew that if we got behind a worthwhile cause, we could really make a difference.”
The Christmas season is just an expansion of the volunteer efforts the company makes throughout the year. Monthly, the company’s departments take turns cooking a meal for the children’s home. A backpack drive for students is held at the beginning of the school year, and the company assembles Easter baskets for children in April.
But during Christmastime, company employees exceed even their own expectations.
The Spirit of Giving
Decorating the Christmas stockings starts early — in mid- to- late October.
Employees split up plain stockings individually and by department to decorate with as much Christmas spirit as possible. The decorating is kept secret until the final reveal in December.
Before dropping off the stockings at the children’s home, the stockings are judged in a contest.
“Our grand prize winner gets a $50 gift card,” Blackwelder said. “Our individual winners get $25 gift cards.”
This year, employees from Spivey, Grimes and Astin Farms participated as judges. The stocking contest – and participating in the company’s holiday drive — has become an activity employees look forward to every year.
“It’s sort of infectious,” Blackwelder said. “It’s a wagon worth getting on.”
The success of the gift drive is all due to the heart of the company’s employees, Blackwelder said.
“This is a very special bunch,” he said. “They will do anything for the kids. The family culture within our group is so strong. When the wish list comes out, these people get on board. It’s not easy doing what we do. There are demanding hours and some weekend work, but it’s a family. They come together on this.”
The first fundraiser three years ago developed due to Plant City ties at the children’s home, Blackwelder said.
“It’s got deep roots in Plant City with Plant City people,” he said.
In addition to the gifts employees buy — from bikes and drones to dolls and Legos — the company also is able to raise an additional $1,000 for further charity work. Additional gift cards are given out to employees at the children’s home.
Contact Emily Topper at etopper@plantcityobserver.com.