As one who believes in the old adage that we can’t thank our volunteers too many times, I wanted to share a concept we do in Phoenix during the holiday season. I think it’s a fun and different way to say thanks … while sharing some interesting bits of “trivia” about our beloved organization.

We have a very large Christmas Angel program in our community.  Though thousands of families are served through multiple distribution centers, our major center hosts seven distribution days. In preparing the warehouse for each day of distribution, we have large groups of volunteers at the Center the evening before (and on weekend days as well). More often than not, a majority of each evening’s volunteers come from one or two corporations or civic groups. As we work through the evening, one of our board volunteers always takes dozens of photographs of the workers … some posed, some candid.

At the end of the evening, each respective group is invited to pose in front of the shelves that are overflowing with gifts. It’s a very impressive shot. (We also encourage individual families to let us take their photos together as well.)

We then send an e-mail to the corporate organizer to thank them for their assistance … and include countless photos of their employees (and family members) that participated. Included in the e-mail of gratitude are bullet points of interest about the Army. For example, did you know The Salvation Army was the inspiration behind the wonderful Christmas song, Silver Bells? We reiterate how many people are served locally and nationally by the Army (even though we mention this at the end of the evening’s work, it’s good to mention in writing). We share fascinating tidbits of information about the history of the Army. This information about our organization is easily attained for a note of this nature.

When the corporate representative receives our e-mails of photos and information on the Army, s/he forwards it to all the participants and sometimes throughout the organization. At that point, the volunteer effort becomes an even greater point of pride for employees and their families. (We know of at least one family who incorporated their warehouse photo into their annual Christmas card.)

Photographs are a wonderful way to show appreciation. Adding some nuggets of history about The Salvation Army into an e-mail “thank-you” makes the whole acknowledgement even richer and easier to share.