(bright music) - Will you consider this?

The holidays are upon us and they come really quickly.

And this young lady has an inside scoop when it comes to kids getting their Christmas and holiday shopping done.

- That's right.

- This is Erin Koller and you are with Crittenton Stocking Stuffer Store.

- That's correct.

- I love it.

- Yes.

- And I have some treasures I'll share in a minute.

- I can't wait.

- Okay, so first, Erin, so tell me you're a hometown girl?

- Yes.

I have lived in Peoria for most of my life.

Went to high school, middle school, elementary school here.

I've lived here and worked here for the last 20 years.

I have a 15-year-old daughter who goes to Richwood High School and I have been, I've been involved with the Stocking Stuffer Store in some form or fashion since I was a teenager.

I volunteered when I was a teenager then, so yeah.

- Okay.

It's been around for 42 years.

- 42 years.

- That's pretty amazing.

- That's right.

- So did you start out right in high school?

Is is when you started being one of the volunteers?

- I can't remember exactly when, but yes.

At some point in high school, I remember that I think my mom was somehow somebody was organizing something at work.

She had a friend that was on the board and solicited me and a few girlfriends to volunteer.

So did that for a couple of years.

I'm pretty sure my younger sisters probably shopped there.

So, you know, just a, just a thing to do in high school and really funny how, you know, 20 years later I would be involved at the chair level.

(both chuckling) - Exactly.

All right.

Well for those who don't know about the Stocking Stuffer Store, let's give a brief history of it.

So it started 42 years ago, - 42 years ago.

It is more than anything just an opportunity for children to experience the joy of giving.

So often, you know, Christmas morning is about them opening presents, but you know, we found that a really great way to help them experience that joy, that excitement of somebody opening a gift that they purchased with as a surprise for their loved ones, a really great way to do that was the Stocking Stuffer Store while raising money for the Crittenton Centers.

- Yeah.

And it's so much fun for the kids.

- Yes.

- So you have a lot of different items for sale.

And what is the price range?

- We are always committed to making it as affordable as possible.

It is for children of, you know, all income backgrounds, items, never go over $10.

You can shop.

We have children that come in with smaller budgets or a lot of people to shop for and we can help them stay in the one $2 section and others that have a little more money to spend or a smaller shopping list and they can shop in that eight to $10 section.

So a very wide variety of price ranges while never getting too expensive.

- Alright, so let's walk, let's walk a young shopper through.

So let's say we have a 5-year-old who's got $27 to spend and five people to buy for.

So what happens first, and this is at Northwoods Mall - This is at Northwoods Mall.

Yes, we are.

We take the, Northwoods Mall is a fantastic partner.

They always donate a space for us.

It's whatever space is available so we can move around the mall.

But this year we are on the upper level near Sears in the old Champs space.

And so what happens is the parent or grandparent or loved one will bring their child to the store, they will help them fill out a shopping list of who they are shopping for.

And so that shopping list, you know, will indicate the person and we ask for the age so that if we see that it's Susie, we understand if Susie is a grandmother or a small child and help them pick the appropriate gift.

They set the budget.

And then the big special thing is we want this to be a surprise for the parents.

And so the child does not go in with their parents.

They go in with a personal shopper who is a volunteer from the community, who knows how the store works and how to help the child shop for their gift.

So when it is the child's turn, they'll go in with the personal shopper, parents stay outside the store, hang out for a little while they're shopping, and they will work on deciding the gifts for the family members.

Those personal shoppers, especially for the younger ones who aren't so great at math or aren't so great at focusing, that can be a challenge sometimes.

Sometimes little kids get very excited and they just wanna shop for themselves.

And so our personal shoppers are fantastic - Redirect.

- redirection, and focus and helping them stay on task, make it fun and find the gifts for their loved ones.

Once they've found all of the gifts, they go to a wrapping room, we help them wrap all of the gifts so that it is a true surprise.

And then they're done.

They come back out, they meet with their parents.

We encourage them strongly to keep it a secret.

Some get very excited and wanna tell mom right away that she got a necklace and they take those gifts home and then they're there in the Christmas morning to open the gifts.

- And they're just so proud.

- Yes.

- But I do have to say that when my one granddaughter was two, she had gone to exercise classes with me and we used little pill balls for our Pilates class.

- Sure.

- And she was in the back and this was when it was at Grand Prairie.

- Grand Prairie.

- And she came running out, "This is for my mama Teta."

(Erin laughing) And the volunteers couldn't keep up with her.

I mean she was just ready to tell me, so it was one of the best gifts 'cause I still have it and I still use it.

- Yeah.

There was meaning behind it.

It's fantastic.

- It's a lot of meaning.

And that's, so for your volunteers, it's gotta give them a good feeling.

- Oh, for sure.

Absolutely.

We have various clubs and, you know, high schoolers and family members and friends that come and, you know, really get to kind of relive that joy with the child of helping them, you know, shop for those loved ones and you know, working with them to make good choices.

And you know, talking to them about, well what does grandpa like, does he like tools or does he like fishing or does he like sports?

And really working with them to find the right gift.

- So the kids can range in age.

We know little ones up to what?

- 12 years old is our max.

- Alright.

- Yep, so I would encourage, we generally say it's two to 12 years old.

If your 2-year-old is comfortable going in with a stranger and can make some decisions with a lot of guidance, then they're the right age, you know, any younger than that, and it's really just the shopper making the call.

(chuckles) - Exactly.

And they're kind of clueless.

And then what's the age of your volunteers?

- We ask for the volunteers to be 13 years or older.

They really do need to be good with children.

And again, helping them, you know, direct those children, keep them focused and on task.

So, you know, you've gotta be willing to lead and guide and be enthusiastic and fun at the same time.

- Well, and it's gotta be just so rewarding that, well, and some of them probably have shopped until age 12 and then - Absolutely.

Yes.

- And then, so they know the drill.

- My own daughter is a brilliant example.

She shopped years ago and now she's 15 and she is my go-to whenever we're short staffed, I call her up and she comes in.

She probably does four shifts a year.

But she, it's really cool to watch her have gone through that process.

- So before we get too far out on our skis.

So if somebody wants to volunteer it, how do they find you or where do you want them to go to be able to get the word out?

- Yes, all of the information about volunteering and our holiday helpers program, which I wanna tell you about, is available on the Crittenton Center's website, which is crittentoncenters.org.

And if you go to the events link in the menu, you can see the various events and look for stocking stuff for store.

And there are links to the volunteer signup.

- [Christine] Great.

Okay.

- It's just a two hour 15 minute shift.

Quick and easy and so much fun.

Doable.

- All right.

So I do wanna share some of the fabulous gifts that I've gotten just recently from grandchildren.

Now this one's gonna be tough because it has a glare on it.

- Oh, yes.

- But can you get this?

This is, you know, grandma's have big heart, (Erin chuckling) so that's a cherished one.

And then I do like to cook.

Now one of my cooking utensils has broken, but I tied these back together again.

So this is cooking for me.

And then this is a fabulous one too, that I'm a fabulous grandma.

- You are, yes.

- Yeah, and so it just really means a lot and they get so excited when they see that I'm using this cup or I'm stirring something.

Okay.

So where do you get all the stuff?

Where do you get the inventory?

- Yes.

That's a great question.

So we get the majority of our inventory from a company called Fund Services that is in existence, I think just to support these kinds of stores.

There are different schools in the community and around the country that do similar stores like this.

And so they are in existence to support us and, you know, us a good price point and a wide variety of items.

We've been working with them for years.

We also look for donations from community members.

If you can see something that's on sale or you make something, we had a have a gentleman who makes these little wooden toy trucks handmade.

They're fantastic.

And he's donated those to us before.

We just need them in quantities large enough to put out on the table and sell.

So something around 20, you know, or more is wonderful.

And those are a hundred percent profit for Crittenton Centers, the items.

- Because they're free and clear donations.

- Exactly.

The items we get from Fund Services we do have to pay for it.

- Right.

Now, what about sponsorships?

- We are supported by fabulous businesses around the community that sponsor us and get to be associated via advertising for the store and social media posts, et cetera.

And yes, many of them have been sponsors of the store for years and years and we are always excited to bring new sponsors on board.

- Well, this year you, what are your dates for the Stocking Stuffer Store?

- It is December 4th through the 14th, on the Thursday through Sunday of both weeks.

So Thursdays and Fridays, we're open from four to 8:00 PM and then- - So after school.

- After school, exactly.

And ideally you can come straight after school, do the shopping, and then get home and continue on with your evening routine.

And then Saturdays and Sundays, we're open from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM and that's for those two weekends.

- Okay, and again, the upper level at Northwoods Mall.

- Upper level Northwoods Mall near JC Penney's.

- Okay.

Alright.

So now tell me about the Holiday Helpers.

- So the Holiday Helpers program is a relatively new program.

I think we're now in our third year.

We were looking for an opportunity to, I should correct myself, we're in our second year, we are looking for an opportunity to allow other community members to support Crittenton Centers and the Stocking Stuffer Store and its mission of spreading the joy of giving to children in the community to those folks who don't have children or grandchildren or they're older and they don't have any child to bring to the store, but still wanna support other children in need to purchase for their loved ones.

And so our goal this year is to support a hundred children through $25 donations per child to that are, are either clients of the Crittenton Centers or from partner agencies.

And for $25 you can support a child who can bring, who can come into their store with their own list and shop for their loved ones.

- Oh, well that's fun.

And how did that come about?

Who came up with that wonderful idea?

- (chuckles) You know, I think it came about initially because in 2020 during the pandemic, we didn't do the store.

And so we were really looking for ways for people to be involved and we found that, you know, those donations were one way to do that.

And a couple of years later we just thought, wouldn't it be nice, we've worked with, we had a sponsor at one time who was doing these vouchers on their own and they were unable to continue to do it.

And we thought, well, why don't we bring that back and encourage, you know, members throughout the community to support instead of just from that one organization.

- Okay.

Well that is, that's the whole spirit of season.

- Exactly.

- The giving.

- Exactly.

- So, you have been doing this for a long time.

- Yes.

- Try to recall some of the gifts that your daughter got for you.

(Erin laughing) - I can, because on my desk I have a mom mug that I keep pens in, so I have that and she, you know, she's giving me different gifts these days in her teenage years.

(Christine laughing) But it's just a great thing and a great memory just to look and see.

And I can remember opening it.

I've gotten jewelry and magnets and key chains and all kinds of fun things.

- Yeah, it is fun.

How many kids do you think, you don't have any idea in 42 years, how many kids have come through?

- Oh my goodness.

- But a lot.

A lot.

- I have to think, so, and certainly quite a few repeat customers.

There are kids that, you know, we see, I've watched grow through the years that I have chaired at the Stocking Stuffer Store and that's always really exciting.

And there are some, like my daughter and kids her age that went from shopping to now volunteering and are so excited to continue to be involved.

How many go through in 42 years?

I've gotta think is quite a bit, I would think on a good day we have at least a hundred children come through.

It can, you know, it ebbs and flows depending on, you know, weather is such a big impact on us, sometimes, you know, people plan and generally can be kind of very last minute about it.

So our last weekend is always a very busy one.

So sometimes we do get a nice wait, which is encouraging to see the support, but can be hard with small children.

So I would encourage folks to come in that first weekend.

They're likely to see less of a wait.

- Right.

- But yeah, I mean I would say hundreds of kids come through every year and certainly more throughout the years.

- In your experience, how many have been on a list of what's the most that have been on a list?

- Oh, we do have kids that come in with stapled lists.

By the way, if you're a real planner parent, you can also, we'll make sure that we have the lists posted in the next couple of weeks that you can print off and fill it out before you even come into the store.

We love those type A folks that do that.

We've definitely had some come in with two or three pages stapled together.

It's a lot there.

They could be in there for an hour plus with their shopper.

(both chuckling) - But do they have a pretty good budget then?

I'm hoping.

- Yes, yes.

Ideally they do.

Yes, and it's fabulous and we love them and we love the kids that just come in with too.

They can, you know, really put a lot of thought and effort into those, you know, maybe they're just shopping for mom or dad or little brother or sister.

And it's nice when they have the time to really, you know, evaluate all the different items.

We have, you know, dozens, hundreds, maybe even of items to choose from so it can take some time.

- So what's the feedback that you get from parents and grandparents?

And I would imagine you do get a lot.

- Oh, absolutely.

They love it.

They absolutely love it.

They love seeing how excited their children are.

They love that we are teaching them this lesson of, it's not just about receiving at the holidays, it is about giving and how good that feels.

They love, you know, just help that somebody can help their child really think through that right gift that is meaningful for them.

And they're always incredibly happy to support Crittenton centers.

We have a giving tree in front of the store that allows, you know, family members, parents, and maybe just people walking by who don't intend to shop to donate items to the store.

We have lots of fabulous families that will round, if the child doesn't spend their full budget, they'll round up and donate the remainder to the store or they'll tack on a little bit extra at the end.

So there's just so much that you get from it.

Just not only the experience for your own family, but how you're helping the families that receive the services from Crittenton Centers as well.

- Well, so now for those who don't know - Yes, - We're gonna be all over the place here.

- Okay.

Yeah.

- Describe then the money goes to Crittenton Centers.

And the Crittenton Centers provides care for?

- Crittenton Centers has been around since 1892 and they really have three main bundles of service offerings.

They're widely known for the crisis nursery, which is a safe, secure place where parents who have no place else to go, can drop their children off for short-term care because they have a hospital stay or some kind of emergency or a domestic abuse situation or something where they can't have their children with them and need someone to, you know, feed and clothe and take care of them for the short term.

So that is is certainly something that everybody, you know, knows about Crittenton Centers, but they do so much more.

We have a family advocacy center that supports children through all kinds of things, dealing with courts coming outta foster care and you don't know how to get your ID, there are so many different programs associated with that.

And then there is the milestones and doula programs.

So the doula program is relatively new.

It came out a couple of years ago and that allows us to help families before birth, through birth.

And then there are additional programs for parenting and through early childhood.

- How long have you been involved with Crittenton and how did that all come about?

- I am in my sixth year on the board.

It's my last year, sadly it flew by, I joined in 2020, which was a strange time to be getting involved in anything.

And one of my good friends, my co-chair, Abbey Cook of the Stocking Stuffer store had been on the board before, and had recommended me.

And again, because I am a Peorian and had shopped at the store and volunteered at the store I was familiar with Crittenton and was thrilled to help out.

- Yeah.

What fun.

- It is.

- What fun.

- It is.

- So what else do you see yourself doing then?

If you're finishing up your time on the board, will you be an auxiliary member?

Will you continue with the, with the Stocking Stuffer Store?

- Yeah, absolutely.

I think you're going to have to really fight to tear Abbey and I away from that.

Abbey especially, she's been involved for so much longer than I have and she's- - She's a guest.

We've interviewed her already, but her show will be coming up after yours.

Just so you know, from Communication Junction.

Okay.

We got that established.

Go ahead.

- Yep.

And her mom handles our inventory.

She's the one who orders the items, stocks the store.

So, you know, we're really devoted and Crittenton Centers is fantastic in allowing community stakeholders to still be involved in their programs.

There are folks that are not on the board that help with Festival of Trees, for example.

So we hope to continue to be involved with that while others on the board, you know, continue to lead as well.

- Didn't you just win something big a couple years ago too?

In one of your Festival of Trees raffles?

- Did I personally?

- Yeah.

Did you?

- Yes, I won a necklace, yes.

(chuckles) - [Christine] And not a stocking stuffer necklace?

- No, it was a dreamer jewelry, fantastic necklace.

Yes.

- Alright.

See you can't beat that.

- So many perks to being on the board.

- Yeah.

Fix.

(both chuckling) Well, so, okay, let's go back to the store again.

Where are all these things stored for right now?

You're already, you know, so it's November.

You're already setting up things in your space.

- Absolutely, Abbey was there earlier this week, working with our printer to, we cover the front of the store so that the parents can't see in.

So again, we're keeping everything a surprise.

So we'll have a nice bright red wrap on the glass in front of the store with our sponsors and information about the store in there.

So she was just working with him on that.

That'll be up by Black Friday.

We wanna get that up and and promoted for holiday shoppers.

We will be, I imagine we've already ordered a lot of the inventory.

We've worked with Fund Services for long enough that they know what we like, they know our quantities.

Robin has a very good, you know, relationship with them and understanding our needs.

So those will be coming in in the next couple of weeks.

We've been collecting other donated items at Crittenton Centers and have picked those up.

So we're getting the ball rolling.

- But you can still accept donations - Absolutely.

- of items now.

- Absolutely.

Again, if they're in good quantity- - And there's just small things, you know, maybe you want something in the two to $3 range and... - Yeah.

It would be something that you would reasonably expect to sell at a one to $10 price point.

Absolutely.

Okay.

So, you know, something that is, you know, a little too extravagant is probably not realistic for us and needs be something.

- So a Van Gogh painter is... - Probably not gonna do it unless you want us to sell that for $10.

- Oh yeah.

(both chuckling) - 10 million.

- Right.

- And then volunteer numbers.

How many do you need per shift?

- So, the more that we have volunteering per shift, the more children we can have going through the store and the fewer, the shorter wait that we have for families.

So we work to have anywhere from six to eight personal shoppers working in one shift.

So, you know, this is a really great thing for families to do together.

We have lots of families that have done it throughout the years and watch their children grow and you know, kids, and again, teenagers and their parents do it together.

This is a great thing for clubs of different sizes.

We have a few, again, that have done that for years and years.

Kids that are looking for credits for community service.

We get a lot of those and love that.

So yeah, six to eight and the shifts are starting to fill up.

When you go to the link, you'll see all of the available options.

- Okay.

And that link again is?

- It's at the Crittenton Centers, crittentoncenters.org website.

- Okay.

And Crittenton is spelled?

- C-R-I-T-T-E-N-T-O-N.

- Okay.

Yeah, that's good, 'cause I always wanna put an extra T in there.

- It is.

And or D's.

Yes.

It can be hard sometimes.

- Okay.

All right.

So you're just pretty happy with all of the generosity in the community and seeing the excitement on the faces of the kids and stuff, and what are you gonna miss most if you're not doing that?

- Ooh, it's a lot of work.

So, I could enjoy the relax, a lot of work right before the holidays, which is not a slow time for anyone, anyway.

So I would enjoy that relaxation, but I'll just miss seeing those kids so incredibly excited.

We do a lot, we have great volunteers that help the store look like a, you know, winter wonderland holiday, you know, fun place to be and just coming in and seeing all of that and these kids just so excited to find that great gift for grandma.

It's just... - It is pretty cute.

- It's great.

- And the way that you wrap them so you have those special little bags with little ties on them and I mean, they're just as cute as can be.

- Yes.

- And the kids love doing that.

And they have to do the wrapping.

- We have them help.

Absolutely.

We make it easy.

We're not looking for, you know, this is not your fancy department store wrapping by any means.

It's simple, it's quick, but it, yes, it allows those children, most of the children that are of the right age to participate, we get them involved in helping and they work with their personal shopper to wrap those gifts, write on the name tags.

And, it's, I'm picturing now in my head those big little kid letters on the names on the gifts and how adorable it is to see.

- Well, so just very briefly, so are there any tears when, if they see somebody, one of the other kids who's been there buying something and there's no more of those left, are there some tears?

- You know, we don't often, we're really great on our inventories and don't so much have that problem.

You know, we definitely do have some children that are a little nervous to go in, but we are all really good at helping them see, you know, peek in, see that it's not scary how much fun it is, that there's lots of other little kids in there having a great time.

So they tend to get over their nerves pretty quickly once they get a peak at the store.

And another challenge that we have sometimes is that siblings will go in together and they're buying for each other.

So our personal shoppers need to do a great job of keeping them separate, so they don't ruin the surprise.

- Yeah.

Well, there's all kinds of hurdles there.

- Yeah, and I would say the biggest one again, and probably where I have seen tears, is those children who think they're just shopping for themselves (both chuckling) and don't like hearing that, "No, you're here for your mom and dad," and you know, they tend to get on work.

- Yeah.

Well there's one for me and one for you.

- Every now and then, they do get special permission to do that.

- Okay, well, (Erin chuckling) that's good.

Okay, so December 4th- - 4th through the 14th.

- Okay.

- Yep.

- Great.

- Yep.

- Well, thank you very much - Thank you so much.

- for being here, Erin.

- Yes.

Thank you for having me.

- Good to see you again.

- Good to see you.

- Yes, I know her mom and I've known you since I think you were a teenager.

- I, probably, yes.

- Except I didn't realize that what your name was, your last name was now.

(Erin laughing) But it's all good.

- Yes.

- All right.

- Yes.

- Well, thank you for being here, - Thank you Christine.

- And, sharing all the information about the Stocking Stuffer Store.

Now you can get that on your list.

Moms, dads, grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles.

You got it going for you.

Alright.

And I hope you enjoyed hearing about this.

Until next time.

Be well.

(bright music) (bright music continues) (bright music continues) (bright music continues) (bright music continues)