Christmas is a celebration of hearts, where it is all about sharing joy.
At least that's what 30-year-old Louise Nysom from Aarhus does, who has been a volunteer with Danish People's Aid for over 10 years - and who is responsible for distributing Christmas aid.
She started volunteering at summer camps for children in 2014. Something she thought was just a one-time pleasure.
– It was actually a bit of a coincidence, because it was my cousin who was supposed to be the leader of this summer camp in Ebeltoft, and she was short of volunteers. I had just finished high school and really just thought I was going to have a nice, long summer vacation. But she convinced me to go with her on the summer camp, and I think I just got hooked.
Here, 10 years later, she volunteers at Danish People's Aid's FamilyNet, where she helps create social activities for vulnerable children and parents and distributes Christmas aid, which is of great importance to her.
An ambivalent feeling
In her 10 years as a volunteer at Danish People's Aid, Louise Nysom has developed a special bond with the families she distributes Christmas aid to. But it also creates an ambivalent feeling in her.
– It's nice that some of the same families come back year after year, because I get to have a very special relationship with them. But at the same time, it's also really sad that some of the children I've looked after when they were only a month old are still receiving Christmas aid ten years later.
According to Louise Nysom, it is especially families where the parents are cash benefit recipients who receive Danish People's Aid's Christmas aid.
– There are also families on SU or other transfer income, but it is definitely families where the parents are cash benefit recipients who are seeking Christmas assistance. For those families it is a vicious spiral that they cannot get out of, and I clearly experience that there are more and more applicants who are on cash benefit.
According to Statistics Denmark The number of cash benefit recipients at the minimum rate has increased by 4,700 since September 2019. This corresponds to an increase of 37 percent.
Outside the community
In her work as a volunteer, Louise Nysom especially meets parents who are frustrated at not being able to give their children a Christmas present like other families can.
– Things are only getting more and more expensive, so if you have to give your children a proper Christmas meal, with maybe just a little extra, it's hard to find room for a gift. All the other children have received bigger gifts, and I often think the children feel left out. It's hard to be the only mother or father who can't give their child the same things that the others can.
That's why Louise Nysom believes that it is particularly important to help distribute Christmas aid.
– The opportunity to hear the families' stories, wish them a Merry Christmas and see the joy and relief in their eyes means an incredible amount to me. That's exactly what Christmas is all about, being able to make other people happy.
