Christmas moments: Enjoying the dinner
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President Harold B. Lee's compassion for the unfortunate and the deprived is well known. His actions as a stake president led to his being called to organize a series of projects and programs that grew into the Church Welfare Plan.
Speaking to Deseret Industries workers at their annual Christmas dinner in 1973, President Lee recalled some Christmas time experiences that influenced his attitude.
When his daughter was young, she had gone to visit her friend across the street to show her the new doll she had received for Christmas. She returned crying because the neighbor girl did not have any Christmas gifts. "Then, too late, we remembered that the father of the family had been out of work," he said. "Although he was not a member of the Church, we tried to share our Christmas with the children. For me it was a very difficult Christmas. I did not enjoy the dinner that I sat down to that day, because I, as a stake president, had not become acquainted with the people in my stake."
The next year, he directed that a survey be taken, which revealed that more than a thousand people needed help. Refurbished toys and a roast beef dinner were delivered to needy families.
One wintry morning that year, while supervising snow removal as a city commissioner, President Lee saw a little boy. "He didn't have a warm coat, or gloves, or overshoes," he related. "It was bitter cold, so I stopped and brought him into the car. The heater was going, and as he got warm I inquired if he was ready for Christmas.
" 'Mister, we aren't going to have any Christmas. Daddy died six months ago. Now there is only Mom and me and two younger children. We don't have much.'
"I got his name and address and I told him that I would see to it that he did have a Christmas at his home."
President Lee contacted the bishop of the boy to ensure that the family had been provided for.
"That year when I sat down to my Christmas dinner I felt that I could enjoy it, because, as far as I knew, every family in my stake was having a good Christmas," he said.
(Source: Church News, Dec. 15, 1973, pp. 4-5; President Lee died Dec. 26, 1973.)
