To Mary Wesley doing a simple act of kindness is much like adding yeast to bread—it grows hope and enriches the spirit.

Wesley is the founder and driving force behind the “Spirit of Christmas,” a community outreach program that provides food, clothing and toys to families in need during the holidays.

The program started 21 years ago when Wesley, then a member of St. Ignatius Loyola Parish in Sacramento, was working with members of the parish’s St. Vincent de Paul Society food distribution group. Seeing children who looked cold and wore tattered clothing come with their parents to pick up food made her take action.

“I believe every child has a right to have something of their own, something special for them, that makes them feel they are valued,” she said.

Frances Balaam, director of the community food locker operated by the Catholic Ladies Relief Society in Chico, prepares to fill bags of food for needy families. Dana Mildebrath/Herald photo

Her first step was to bring together a group of friends, including St. Ignatius parishioners and fellow members of the Interfaith Service Bureau in Sacramento, to launch the Christmas program. Wesley and her band of volunteers “started small,” she said, providing holiday food baskets, gifts or toys, and new articles of clothing for 35 families.

But a telephone call she received on Christmas Day that first year made the Spirit of Christmas Wesley’s personal crusade. The young girl who called said that a local television station had given her the number to reach Santa Claus.

“She told me that even though she had helped her little brothers write letters to Santa, it was afternoon and Santa hadn’t arrived,” Wesley said.

So Wesley, her daughter, and a grandson packed up their Christmas dinner and family gifts and traveled to north Sacramento where a family, living in “the smallest house ever seen,” ran jubilantly out into the street to greet their guests.

“I don’t think you can turn your back on anyone,” she said. “Hope is a big word, and knowing there’s someone who cares.”

A community activist, Wesley was among the first to serve on the Diocesan Pastoral Council starting in the late 1980s, appointed by then Bishop Francis Quinn. Bishop Quinn recalls that Wesley brought qualities of wisdom, courage, honesty, “a deep love for the church” and “exceptional faith” to her work.

Jessie Shields, a member of Sacred Heart Parish in Red Bluff, met Wesley when both served on the Pastoral Council.

“(Wesley) is one of those people who you can tell has a great love and devotion not just for her church, but for people,” Shields said. “When she sees something needs to be done, she comes up with creative ideas to do it.”

Wesley has also chaired countless fund-raisers for Jericho, a Sacramento-based statewide interfaith organization which advocates for people living in poverty.

As the Spirit of Christmas grew—last year the program served nearly 500 families—Wesley did some administrative fine-tuning. To best identify Spirit of Christmas families, she works with social service programs provided by Sacramento-area school districts.

Liane Ramirez, who coordinates the McKinney Title 1 Homeless Education Program for the San Juan Unified School District in Sacramento County, has worked for several years with the Spirit of Christmas identifying families living without permanent housing.

“The Spirit of Christmas helps get families over the hump. It is a wonderful link for families who would have no holiday otherwise,” Ramirez said.

St. Charles Borromeo School in Sacramento is one of several schools in the Diocese of Sacramento which has supported Wesley’s Christmas program through the years.

Sister Maureen Fitzgerald, a member of the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, saw the program touch the lives of students when she served as principal of St. Charles. Sister Fitzgerald, who currently works as a teacher in the Archdiocese of St. Louis, said every year at Christmas “some magic happened” in the classrooms.

“The kids really got into it. They wanted to take gifts to the homes of families they adopted,” she said. “It was a real eye opener to learn there were children not asking for toys, just needing clothes. What they learned went beyond Christmas.”

Wesley has also found strong support for the Spirit of Christmas in the business community. “It’s a program that works for businesses because it brings people together with a sense of camaraderie,” she said.

Kay Mitchell, data manager in the cardiac surgery group at Mercy General Hospital in Sacramento, says that Wesley’s program “just makes Christmas” for several staff members who support the program year after year.

“When you meet people who have lost everything, you realize just how fortunate you are,” she said. “Mary has quite a few stars in her crown.”

For more information about the Spirit of Christmas, call Mary Wesley at (916) 483-1386.

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