HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. — Christmas in the Lane home is a big deal.
What You Need To Know
Jaime Lane and her family raised nearly $3,000 to feed low-income elderly this Christmas
They raised money selling luminaries to their neighbors
The family plans to start a nonprofit organization, so they can give back to those in need every year
They have not one, not two, but three Christmas trees!
For the second year in a row, Jaime Lane and her family are turning Huntersville into Whoville.
Lane says the Christmas tree seeds were planted generations before her.
“My love of Christmas comes from my grandmother, and my mother. My mother goes over the top. She keeps the Christmas tree up 24/7, 365 days a year,” she said.
But it was her grandmother and grandfather who inspired her to start a new tradition nine months into the COVID-19 pandemic.
“To think about how we were shut in, also made you think, well, if I’m shut in, and I know my grandparents would’ve been shut in this time of year at the assisted living,” she said. “Even though they had their caretakers there, us as families would not have been able to go visit them.”
They passed away three years ago, but she knows the elderly feel lonely during this time.
“There’s so many out there that don’t have families with them,” she said.
Then, watching Dr. Seuss’s "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" on television really catapulted them into action.
“This is me dressing up as the Grinch,” said Lane flipping through photos of her in costume as the “mean green” last year.
It's a unique way to spread cheer and help low-income elderly people. She and her family made a “Whoville” float and dressed up as little whos.
“I got out, and I danced and performed, and the kids chanted and took pictures,” she said.
They also collected donations to feed their older neighbors for Christmas. They raised $700 and bought them steak dinners.
People in their Huntersville neighborhood did something they hadn’t done in nine months. They celebrated!
A memory of one elderly woman is vivid in Lane’s mind.
“She said, ‘oh my God. I haven’t seen a child, a parent. I haven’t seen my family in nine months,'” she recalled. “'I’m giving every one of you guys a hug. I don’t have COVID,' and she came, and she hugged all of us. Every one of us. And, it changed these kids’ lives.”
This year they raised money by selling luminaries, raking in $2,700 in less than a week.
“We’re blessed to have this neighborhood and all these kids to help out,” Lane said.
It comes just in time to light up the neighborhood for the big day.
Since they raised nearly four times the amount they raised last year, they’re not only feeding elderly people in Huntersville but also buying meals for those in Cornelius.
This time around, they can feed more than 120 people in need. They hand-delivered the meals on Wednesday.