The Christmas spirit sometimes can be found in the most unlikely of places.  It was in great abundance last Saturday in the dusty yard of a tiny old house in Pueblo's Bessemer neighborhood.

     Over 120 kids shopped for presents for their siblings and parents, if they needed to, looked for coats or canned goods, while a handful of volunteers outside the fence wrapped each purchase in holiday paper and bows.  Everything was free.

     But then, everthing's always free at the LUV in Action ministry house at 1044 E. Abriendo.

     Most days, though, the folks "shopping" are adults.  And they're not after gifts or luxury items.

They come for food, furniture, clothing, housewares, and hope.

    "We don't turn anyone away.  And if we don't have something they need, we tell them to come back because somehow we always get what they need when we ask for it."

     LUV in Action survives primarily on donations.  Grissom and her husband, Roy, often dig into their own budget to buy discounted food, or under clothes, gloves and other necessities when she sees a good bargin somewhere.

     "It requires some very creative shopping sometimes," Grissom said, her eyes crinkled in what seems to be a perpetrual smile.

     They solicited help from a few friends and delivered the donated food, along with clothing and other items, to a few unsuspecting but very grateful families.

     The rest, as they say, is history.

     Drupieski since has died, but Roy Grissom by that time was a full-time LUV in Action everyman when he wasn't at this full-time job as a gas fireplace technician.

     For years, the couple collected food and clothing "and whatever else people would give us" in a well-traveled yellow truck and stored it in their Pueblo West garage.  That practice raised the ire of the Committee of Architecture more than once, so they moved the storage operation to a church.  As their ministry caught on, they outgrew one space after another.

    Even with a much larger truck (bought for $6,000 that the Grissoms didn't have, but paid for within weeks by the Pueblo West Rotary Club member who wrote out a check for the balance after hearing Grissom speak at a breakfast meeting), hauling donated items to town for weekly giveaways became a back-breaking burden.

     Three years ago, Cyndi spotted a vacant Community Youth Organization building at the corner of E. Abriendo and Arroyo avenues in Pueblo.

     "I kept telling God that we really needed that building," she said.

     "He told me one day, 'Cyndi, you're looking on the wrong side of the street," and I saw the 'For Sale' sign here," she said opening her arms up to the ceiling in the tiny living room of the aged house.

     "It was a wreck.  The yard was full of weeds.  But we applied for the mortgage and we got it, so here we are." 

     With help from a small army of volunteers --- many who have been recipients of the ministry's generosity, and others who were court-ordered to work there as acommunity service assignment we were able to get it setup. A small garage holds mostly clothing.  The food pantry is located in the enclosed back porch, and the rest of the house is where volunteers sort and clean donated clothing for storage until it can be moved to racks outdoors.

     The house also is where clients are invited in for coffee or punch, and the chance to share their story, or hear those of volunteers who know what tough times are, too.

     "That's really what we're about.  One person helping another, and passing it on," Grissom said.

     "If everybody could just live that way, what a different world it would be."

     Pueblo West resident Kathy Sposato echoed Grissom's remarks as she directed children to the shopping area or the gift-wrapping station during last Saturday's event.

     A veteran propery manager in Pueblo's low-income housing market, Sposato said LUV in Action is one of few agencies in Pueblo that "doesn't make people jump though a hundred hoops before thay can get some emergency help.  When people have no money and no food and nowhere to go, they don't have time to fill out applications and wait for a 'yes' or a 'no.'  Cyndi and Roy don't turn anyone away, and they're a blessing to the people they help," Sposato said, adjusting the Santa hat she had donned for the special ocassion.

     What many Pueblo West residents may not realize is that a surprising number of their neighbors are among the clients LUV in Action serves.

     The need, and proverty "is hidden in Pueblo West," Sposato said.  "And even the people who know it's there sometimes just don't want to see it.  They don't want to know that it's in their back yard." Grissom agreed.

    Many familites arrive for construction jobs with nothing more than the clothing they're wearing and a lease on a Title 8 house in one of Pueblo West's older neighborhoods.

     "They don't know Pueblo. They don't know where to go for any of the help they need," Grissom said.

     Somehow, they usually find LUV in Action, and they leave with food, clothing and a list of other community resources where they can connect to longer-term assistance.

     Perhaps children are too young to undersand that kind of heartache, Grissom said, but too many adults don't realize how easily a family can slip into similar circumstances.

     LUV in Action survives because of the generosity of folks who can imagine, and emphathize.

     "We are blessed," Grissom said.  "We're blessed because of people who are willing to give, and that allows us to give.  And every time the shelves go empty and we wonder what we'll do next, someone comes along and we're blessed again."

     For more information about LUV in Action, or to arrange pickup of used clothing, furniture, or food, call Grissoms at 547-3797.