But the Domestic/Sexual Assault Outreach Center makes sure that those who are seeking their services have a merry Christmas by providing presents for families and children.

With the help of community donors, D/SAOC is able to provide both clothes and toys to families living in the shelter, those transitioning to their own homes and anyone else who receives services from the organization, according to Jamie Huse, child advocate for D/SAOC.

And it’s all thanks to the community they’re able to do that.

“Our community has been amazing,” Huse said. “Local businesses have stepped up, churches, we have some schools, different organizations, and we even have some individuals within the community that will call and say, ‘I want to adopt a family,’ or ‘I want to adopt an individual.'”

Huse said each donor is assigned a person or family to shop for.

“Without identifying them, I have a numbering system with a letter,” she said. “I can give out basic information of their needs — clothing sizes, any specific wants. Our donors come back, bring it all to me and I get to play the little elf and we put all those gifts together to give to our families.”

D/SAOC makes sure that every person who receives services from the organization gets a gift, Huse said.

“We try to provide an outfit or two and a toy or two if we’re able to,” she said.

It’s very important to provide these gifts, as Huse said the families D/SAOC serves often arrive at the shelter with very little.

“Our families coming into D/SAOC are sometimes at the lowest point in their life,” Huse said. “Essentially, they’re having to start over. Start a new life.”

Often times, the families that utilize D/SAOC’s services are worried they won’t be able to give anything for Christmas.

“We want to try and step in and take a little burden off their shoulders,” Huse said.

And the families that receive the gifts are very grateful.

“It’s amazing to see how something so little that they are giving means to someone else,” Huse said.

She’s seen so many families crying tears of joy and thankfulness upon receiving their gifts. She often hears from families that if it weren’t for D/SAOC and the donors, there wouldn’t be much of a Christmas to celebrate.

“I’ve had so many moms come crying and hugging us,” Huse said. “And I say, ‘I’m just the elf. I’m just the go-between.'”

She summed it up in three simple words.

“Give it forward.”