When Trudy Hawkins, Controller – Construction Accounting at Fairfield Residential, decided to forego her holiday gifts for a larger cause, she had no idea just how big this idea would grow.

The Spirit of Giving

“One of my best friends has a son in the army. Every year, she volunteers with the Boodle Brigade: a care package drive which sends gifts to soldiers abroad,” Trudy explained.

In the midst of a phone call, Trudy’s friend posed a meaningful question: “Why not use the money we would spend on Christmas presents, on packages for these soldiers?”

Trudy and her friend agreed to forego exchanging presents—but she didn’t stop there. Inspired, Trudy took this big idea to the workplace, rallying the Construction Accounting department, along with two others.

“I approached Ed McCoy of the Development Group and Wayne Laliberte of New Construction to see if they’d be interested in [this cause],” Trudy said. “They were fully on board.”

Operation Holiday Care: Small Items, Big Heart

Trudy, Ed, and Wayne put their heads together for Operation Holiday Care: a mission to fund, pack and send gift boxes to soldiers stationed abroad. Without knowing what the mission would entail, the three set a goal to raise $500 and invited their departments to join.

Operation Holiday Care: a true team effort

“We started collecting money and items, wrapping the inside of each box with holiday wrapping paper,” Trudy explained. “Our teams took the boxes home to fill, and before we knew it, their families got involved!”

Husbands, wives, and children alike joined forces to fill each box. One employee’s daughter came to the Fairfield offices to make posters; another’s son rallied several 5^th graders at school to make 100 construction paper cards.

One of 100 construction paper cards handwritten with gratitude by a class of 5^th graders

In the end, Team Operation Holiday Care doubled their original goal, raising $1,000 to pack and send 24 boxes of holiday decorations; handwritten cards; candy and protein bars; cereal the troops couldn’t get abroad, and more—seemingly small items, packed with big heart.

Operation Holiday Care: Worth Every Challenge

Neither Trudy, Ed, nor Wayne knew what to expect in raising funds or packaging boxes for the troops. They just knew, no matter where they started, that it was just important to start.

“It’s so easy to get caught up in the day-to-day,” Trudy began. “But it’s important to reach out to those who can’t be home with family, especially during the holidays.”

In order to deliver these special packages by Christmas Day, Trudy knew they had to ship the boxes by November 17th—a challenging task, as she would be out of office for two weeks. Nevertheless, the team stepped in to help finish and deliver the boxes on time.

Smiling after a mission complete: 24 packages on their way to make the soldiers’ holiday 

“[Operation Holiday Care] was a team effort. Not only did we get to reach out to others; it was a lot of fun for those involved. It gave us at Fairfield a way to get to know one another on a different level.”
– Trudy Hawkins, Controller – Construction Accounting, Fairfield Residential

A Meaningful Reward

A few weeks later, Trudy and Team Operation Holiday Care received a letter from the soldiers.

“I just passed out the last Christmas box and I wanted to reach out and thank you and your team for bringing so much cheer to many young sailors[…]during this challenging time. Each day these young men and women wake up with a Groundhog Day routine and each day they/we miss our families more and more. We miss the simple pleasures of being home and watching them open your boxes was such a touching experience (I also enjoyed a box). You and your team’s selfless act put big smiles on so many faces and for the past few days I have seen people’s spirits lifted. We are truly blessed to have people like you supporting our service members. It really feels like Christmas around here thanks to you. I cannot thank you enough. The young sailors who received the boxes wanted to thank you as well and the first chance I get I will share the pictures with you.

I have made gift bags with the gifts that were sent and will be delivering them to the Medical Department closer to Christmas. I cannot wait to see more smiles on more faces and we owe that to you. I would also like to thank the students for their amazing cards and letters. We read them all and shared some laughs and are thankful for them taking the time to send appreciation. We are honored to serve such wonderful people back home. Thank you for making our holiday season perfect.”

Paying It Forward

What began as a spark of an idea grew to involve Fairfield employees in three departments, and their family members at home.

Trudy, front right, with a few members of Team Operation Holiday Care

But the spirit of ‘paying it forward’ didn’t end there. As Fairfield employees gathered to assemble the boxes, team members outside their departments caught onto the holiday spirit.

One Fairfield employee felt inspired to lead her son and his Boy Scout troop in assembling boxes for the needy. Another took action to call the local food bank.

“Seeing their efforts motivated me to make the call. We ended up gathering 300 pounds of food for the food bank, making a difference with that one phone call,” said Patty Niles, Assistant – Marketing at Fairfield.

And it all started with one. One person; one conversation; one big idea.

“Go for it. Go for the cause that matters to you; that you believe is worth paying attention to. By combining all of our efforts, we can make a much larger difference than we’d ever imagine.”
– Trudy Hawkins