About the Fund
MONROE - The Christmas Stocking Fund is an annual project of the Monroe Woman's Club that provides food boxes, toys and winter coats and boots to families in need throughout the Monroe school district.
Last year, more than 600 children and 270 families were helped. Names of those in need are supplied by school officials, counselors and churches.
Donations to the Stocking Fund are used to purchase toys for children, as well groceries for food boxes that go to families. Food boxes are delivered right before Christmas.
To help out the Christmas Stocking Fund, send donations to 901 16th Ave., Monroe, WI 53566. A pre-addressed envelope is included inside today's edition of the Times.
MONROE - It takes an army of volunteers to make sure every child in Monroe has a special gift at Christmas time.
Bob and Lenae Ambrose of Monroe are there on the front line every holiday season, serving as two of the volunteer shoppers who find gifts for children served by the Monroe Woman's Club Christmas Stocking Fund. The Stocking Fund provides toys, winter coats and boots, and food boxes for families in need in the Monroe school district.
This year, Cadet Girl Scouts from Troop 103, joined them. Bob is co-leader of the troop, along with Jill Gothard, and Lenae serves as assistant leader.
In the past, the Cadets have helped out. But this year, they wanted more of a role. They got gender and ages for 32 children, representing nine families and ranging in age from 18 months to a 19-year-old, with special needs.
The sixth- and seventh-grade girls went to Wal-Mart, where they spent hours selecting gifts, Lenae said. They inventoried what they had purchased and then went to the Behring Senior Center, where the Woman's Club collects gifts and clothing donated by the community through area toy drives. They made sure every recipient, whose names are kept confidential, had age-appropriate gifts, including a stuffed animal.
"They put a lot of thought into that," Lenae said, noting the Cadets are very aware that for some children, the gifts from the Stocking Fund are the only ones they receive this Christmas.
"It really hits home ... that right here in Monroe, right here in your school, there are children in need," she said.
The Christmas shopping fits in with the Scouts' mission to help others. "Our girls are very into community service," she said. Helping the Stocking Fund shows the young girls "how to be involved, how you can give back to your community."
For the Ambroses, that desire to give back is a very personal mission. They shop for numerous children each year for the Stocking Fund, taking on extra names and last-minute phone calls from Woman's Club organizers who need some more shopping done.
They do it, Lenae said, from a desire to show others the kindness they've received in their own lives.
Years ago, while living in Madison with two young children, the couple found themselves between places to live. Lenae was doing in-home day care and a family whose children she watched invited the Ambroses into their home. The Ambroses lived in the family's basement for two months, and Lenae even was allowed to run her day care from their home.
They've never forgotten that, she said.
"There's no way I could ever repay them," she said. So, "I pay it forward. I try to live my life that way."
She said she understands that many people live paycheck to paycheck and may not be able to make large monetary contributions. But she encouraged people to remember even small amounts add up quickly. If people, just for one day, skipped a lunch out and sent that money to the Stocking Fund, they would "be surprised what an impact that would be."
And "people help in different ways. Some may not be able to give much," she said, adding that's why she and Bob give their time.
Helping the Stocking Fund is a way to keep the chain of giving strong.
"It's our way of way of giving back. Everything comes full circle," she said.
Bob and Lenae Ambrose of Monroe are there on the front line every holiday season, serving as two of the volunteer shoppers who find gifts for children served by the Monroe Woman's Club Christmas Stocking Fund. The Stocking Fund provides toys, winter coats and boots, and food boxes for families in need in the Monroe school district.
This year, Cadet Girl Scouts from Troop 103, joined them. Bob is co-leader of the troop, along with Jill Gothard, and Lenae serves as assistant leader.
In the past, the Cadets have helped out. But this year, they wanted more of a role. They got gender and ages for 32 children, representing nine families and ranging in age from 18 months to a 19-year-old, with special needs.
The sixth- and seventh-grade girls went to Wal-Mart, where they spent hours selecting gifts, Lenae said. They inventoried what they had purchased and then went to the Behring Senior Center, where the Woman's Club collects gifts and clothing donated by the community through area toy drives. They made sure every recipient, whose names are kept confidential, had age-appropriate gifts, including a stuffed animal.
"They put a lot of thought into that," Lenae said, noting the Cadets are very aware that for some children, the gifts from the Stocking Fund are the only ones they receive this Christmas.
"It really hits home ... that right here in Monroe, right here in your school, there are children in need," she said.
The Christmas shopping fits in with the Scouts' mission to help others. "Our girls are very into community service," she said. Helping the Stocking Fund shows the young girls "how to be involved, how you can give back to your community."
For the Ambroses, that desire to give back is a very personal mission. They shop for numerous children each year for the Stocking Fund, taking on extra names and last-minute phone calls from Woman's Club organizers who need some more shopping done.
They do it, Lenae said, from a desire to show others the kindness they've received in their own lives.
Years ago, while living in Madison with two young children, the couple found themselves between places to live. Lenae was doing in-home day care and a family whose children she watched invited the Ambroses into their home. The Ambroses lived in the family's basement for two months, and Lenae even was allowed to run her day care from their home.
They've never forgotten that, she said.
"There's no way I could ever repay them," she said. So, "I pay it forward. I try to live my life that way."
She said she understands that many people live paycheck to paycheck and may not be able to make large monetary contributions. But she encouraged people to remember even small amounts add up quickly. If people, just for one day, skipped a lunch out and sent that money to the Stocking Fund, they would "be surprised what an impact that would be."
And "people help in different ways. Some may not be able to give much," she said, adding that's why she and Bob give their time.
Helping the Stocking Fund is a way to keep the chain of giving strong.
"It's our way of way of giving back. Everything comes full circle," she said.