ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, December 26, 1996 TAG: 9612260072
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: MICHELLE CROUCH ASSOCIATED PRESS
SOME VIRGINIA FAMILIES SHUNNED the trappings and comforts of Christmas to lend a hand to the less fortunate. And many found it truly is more fulfilling to give.
Diedre and Rick Miller had been telling their children for weeks not to expect anything from Santa this Christmas.
But it wasn't until Eden, 5, and Richard, 7, woke up and ran to the Christmas tree Wednesday morning that they realized their parents weren't kidding: There was nothing under the tree.
``We had decided we didn't want to do a traditional Christmas with all its commercialism,'' Diedre Miller explained. ``We had been trying to tell them not to expect anything for a month. But it didn't really sink in until this morning.''
Instead, like many other families around the state, the Millers went into their community and helped the people Santa Claus often forgets - the poor, elderly and homeless.
The Millers of Chesterfield spent the day serving a Christmas meal at the Salvation Army shelter in downtown Richmond.
They were among more than 70 volunteers who served up a Christmas feast of turkey and ham to about 400 people who showed up.
In the dining room, people of all ages crowded around tables covered with green plastic tablecloths. Volunteers, anxious to please, served seconds, offered dessert and cleaned up the messes left behind.
Michelle Wagner, 8, and her 4-year-old brother, David, darted through the room with baskets of artificial sweetener and sugar, making sure to ask everybody what they wanted in their tea or coffee.
Their mother, Laura Wagner, said it's the Henrico County family's first Christmas in the shelter. ``This is a lesson for them that Christmas is not just about presents,'' she said.
Rick and Connie Mikles of Virginia Beach had the same idea. They brought their three children to a soup kitchen in Norfolk, where they served a turkey dinner to the homeless.
``I don't feel like we're missing anything though,'' said Rick Mikles, 43. ``We probably have as good a Christmas as anybody in the world because it's part of the joy of the season.''
The family also spent up to six days a week before Christmas doling out toys at the Salvation Army's temporary warehouse in Norfolk.
It was the same story in other parts of the state.
Volunteers for the Salvation Army in Roanoke distributed more than 1,000 toys last week to children of needy families.
And in Charlottesville, Salvation Army volunteers served a Christmas meal with a special touch. Elizabeth Ritchie White, 37, signed up to be a server, but on a whim, she brought her guitar.
She ended up singing Christmas carols with about 10 children gathered around her.
``I knew I would be alone this year, so I wanted to figure out how I could do something for other people. I have a feeling this will be one of my new Christmas traditions,'' White said.
Even families who don't celebrate Christmas found a way to show the spirit of the season. Bill Waschler, his 2-year-old daughter and his 5-year-old son did household chores and visited with residents of the Beth Sholom Home of Central Virginia on Wednesday.
The family was among more than 90 Jewish volunteers who washed dishes, answered phones and served meals in the nursing home so that Christians could take the day off.
LENGTH: Medium: 70 linesby CNB