Cover image via Operation Ornaments Facebook page.

I have spent years teaching self-reliance and listening to stories of disaster survivors. We have “discussed” emergency prep here for 16 years, but it’s Christmas. Grab a cup of cocoa, curl up, and enjoy a feel-good story.

It’s been five years since a small group of friends joined together to serve survivors of disaster by creating handmade Christmas ornaments and delivering them to those grieving. This may seem a small gesture but:

“Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise. (Alma 37:6)

Over the past five years we have seen how the small and simple gift of handmade ornaments has brought hope and healing to those grieving the loss of homes, jobs and unfortunately in some cases family members.

President Dallin H. Oaks observed: “We are taught many small and simple things in the gospel of Jesus Christ. We need to be reminded that in total and over a significant period of time, those seemingly small things bring to pass great things.”  (October General Conference 2021)

I will never forget the woman who hugged me after receiving a package of ornaments and with tears in her eyes told me: “I know now God has not forgotten me”.

Let me share with you some of the many notes we have received from survivors:

  • I just received the most amazing package of handmade ornaments. I am completely blown away. This year has been one of the hardest years of my life. To say this made me feel loved and less alone is an understatement. I cannot begin to thank each and every person who volunteered and whose hands touched these beautiful treasures. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. It will never be forgottenAs a recipient of this amazing gift, I will say that this is hands down something I will be contributing to for many years to come. I will never be able to fully express my gratitude for the gift of beautiful ornaments and each and every handwritten card attached. In a time that you can start to feel all alone and lose hope, this is a reminder that we are never truly alone.  (Summer)
  • We lost everything in the 2022 flood in Letcher County, KY. I received a bag of ornaments from people across the United States. A couple months ago we got back in our home after a year of rebuilding. This brought so much joy to me. It meant a lot to have homemade ornaments. Thank you everyone that took the time to make those. (Hettie)
  • Hello from Guam! I just wanted to say these ornaments brought so much Christmas joy and cheer. Christmas is always my hardest season here on Guam (we are military stationed overseas), very far from our family in Virginia. Between the distance, last year’s typhoon, and the rebuilding period it has truly been a time of growth and challenges here. Your bag of ornaments seriously brought me to tears. Seeing the effort and love that others put into making these ornaments (people from all over the country!) really helped and encouraged us- thank you for all your work, it really did make such an impact on our community to know you were thinking of us and have been praying for us. (Kristi)
  • Operation Ornaments delivers to Guam! At Andersen Air Force Base, ornaments were distributed by Santa himself at the base’s Rota Walk event. Naval Base Guam volunteers distributed ornaments during their Christmas Tree lighting event. More ornaments are going out this week to charities across the island. We can’t thank the volunteers of Operation Ornaments enough. You ARE making a difference in the lives of thousands! (Sean)
  • Jennifer (Guam) I am in tears! Thank you so much!
  • From the Silver City Mississippi Facebook Page: “Are supplies still coming to Rolling Fork (MS) and if so why have they stopped coming into Silver City?” Silver City was feeling forgotten but we took them ornaments and received these comments on their Facebook page: “Thank you we got them and loved them!!! We loved reading where everyone was from and the creativity everyone put into each ornament” and several simple “Thank you so much!”
  • My husband’s family is in Rolling Fork (MS) and I saw they received the ornaments. I love this so much. Thank you. Sometimes it’s the little things that bring the biggest smiles. We are in NC and of course Western NC has been devastated and I know people personally affected in a big way. This is just sweet to know you are not forgotten. (Robbie)
  • I got one of those ornament packages in 2022. My mom had just passed away that October and when I came home from helping my Dad, the kids told me someone had dropped them off. Still makes me teary to think of people caring enough to make those for us. I’ll be putting them on my tree later this week. (Patti)
  • I live in Bowling Green, Kentucky. 25% of my students either lost their homes or were heavily damaged in those tornadoes. This sweet lady came by school a little bit ago and gave us some family packs. I’ve already given out five and the delight in the eyes of the kids brings tears to mine. Thank you all so very much. (Lynne)
  • I don’t think the people who make these and the people who go to the trouble of receiving them and distributing them truly know what they mean to us. The 12 I received will proudly be displayed. I had been collecting ornaments for 65 years and lost them all. My tree, small as it was, really felt special with the handmade ornaments knowing the care love and time that went into them for a complete stranger to care enough to make them and send them to us. Thank everybody involved and I pray GOD blesses you as much as you have all blessed us. (Paula)
  • Receiving ornaments was just so very uplifting, it made it a lot easier on everybody. It helped everybody’s attitude, stop thinking about ‘oh, everything that I lost’ instead how much people were willing to give up their own time and supplies. We’re getting our neighborhood back. It just kind of made me look forward to this Christmas. (Karen)
  • I had to work today but my husband works at the park. We were victims from the tornado as well. He brought me this bag home and I can’t begin to explain the joy and tears as I opened each one and read each card enclosed. The fact they are all handmade is so special. They are going on my tree. I can’t begin to say thank you enough to each one who took the time to do this. I would love to help with this to brighten someone’s day as you all have mine. Your small tokens impacted in such a great big way. God bless you all. (Sherry)
  • “I want you to know what an amazing gift you’ve given me through your group / charity / service project. I often wondered if the recipients would feel touched and loved and know how special we as the creators and givers tried to make each individual ornament. I often wondered if those who opened each little package would know how much love we were trying to send to them through each ornament and hoping they would feel some sort of connection to Christ, some sort of hope and relief and knowledge that brighter days are ahead…. And now I Know…I have found out for myself they can really make a difference. God bless you. Thank you so much. Merry Christmas to you.” (Catherine)

We often forget how much the children are suffering after losing everything.

  • Our family with 3 small sons suffered significant tornado damage last December in KY and we are still not back in our home. Thank you so much for the ornaments we received from you all this year. My boys love them and they gave us a lot of joy and cheer knowing that our difficult year hasn’t been forgotten. Thank you so much! (Joanna)
  • Dear Nice People, Thank you all for all the ornaments. I’m very thankful for evry single one of them. Now you know for sure you will be on the nice list. Emelie age 8.
  • Thank you for the ordements they make me so happy! I think you shooed get extera presents this year for this. My name is Brooke and I am 7 years old.Copied just as they were written, misspelled words and all.
  • These girls (she posted a photo on Facebook) were so excited to get ornaments after we lost all of ours in the flood. May God send many blessings to those who made them.We received a bag of homemade ornaments from Operation Ornaments. We lost all our Christmas decorations in the flood that hit Eastern Kentucky in 2022. I have three little girls who were thrilled to see what state each one came from. Thank you so much for caring.

There have been so many miracles. As we serve others, we are serving our Heavenly Father and growing closer to the Savior. When we choose to serve, we will see miracles in our lives.

  • I hope it’s okay to share this here. I sing in a local choir in Broomfield, CO.  I learned last week that one of our members was a victim of the Marshall/Superior fires.  She and her family lost EVERYTHING.  They had 5 minutes to grab pets and vacate.  They’ve been living in temporary housing for almost a year and she was super excited that they’re breaking ground next week on building a new home.I said “I can’t even imagine your loss and how you begin to process it.”  She commented “I’ve shed a thousand tears but have found peace in the memories and that I’ll never have to worry about cleaning out all of those closets.”  She added, “Honestly, its the little losses that are the hardest.  Like treasured Christmas ornaments.  This first Christmas is probably gonna be tough.”It brought everything full circle.  Such an INSPIRED service of love represented here.  Thank you all so much.

This survivor had no idea the choir member was involved with Operation Ornaments and because of this conversation we were able to get ornaments to the family.

I remember a few years ago getting 20 ornaments from Japan. A survivor from Colorado called and asked if she could have one created in Japan because she had lived there and lost everything. We had over 2000 family packs with over 26,000 ornaments but Carol told her she would try to find a pack with a Japanese made ornament. Carol searched just a half dozen packs and found one and we were able to get it to the survivor.

Laura was playing pickleball and struck up a conversation with a woman she did not know and discovered this woman had family in an area in Iowa affected by a tornado. Because of this random conversation we were able to serve that area this year.

A tornado had just destroyed Rolling Fork Mississippi when a friend in our ward bore her testimony and mentioned Rolling Fork giving us an in and the opportunity to work with that very small town and nearby Silver City.

Of course, the biggest miracle was an invitation to appear on the Kelly Clarkson Show to share our mission and desire to help survivors understand they have not been forgotten. As we watch disaster reports we so often hear people say, “please don’t forget us”.

“The number of prayers we say may contribute to our happiness, but the number of prayers we answer may be of even greater importance. Let us open our eyes and see the heavy hearts, notice the loneliness and despair; let us feel the silent prayers of others around us, and let us be an instrument in the hands of the Lord to answer those prayers.” (Dieter F Uchtdorf, October 2008)

At Operation Ornaments we believe disaster survivors are some of the most underserved and forgotten of Heavenly Father’s children. When the media leaves, we forget. As we celebrate the birth of the Savior let us remember the greatest gift we can give him is to love Him and love and serve others.

“Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves.” J. M. Barrie, A Window in Thrums (1917), 137

We have seen that sunshine come into the lives of those creating ornaments and those donating financial support to make this all possible. We have those who are housebound, people recovering from surgeries, former survivors, family reunion groups, children, at least one creator who is 93, another is blind, church and community groups, National Honor Society, 4H, and so many more who all express their joy as they serve and the light it brings into their lives. It’s ok to be a little selfish. If you need more joy, hope and light in your life or the life of your family, serve.

If you have created ornaments or made a financial contribution, thank you!

As we approach a new year, let us remember, service does not have to be grand in scale or a huge financial commitment. Let us look for those who need a little more of the love the Savior would give if He was here.

If you would like to help create ornaments or make a tax-deductible donation, please visit operationornaments.org or operation ornaments on Facebook. See the Kelly Clarkson interview.