Gallery: Stoughton Teens Bring Joy to Children at Christmas in the City

A busload of teens from the Stoughton Life Teen program. recently volunteered at the annual Christmas in the City event in Boston, helping to make the holidays a little brighter for homeless children and families in need.

The Stoughton Life Teen volunteers were joined by members of the Stoughton YAC, as well as other volunteers from the area.

Stoughton Life Teen went on Saturday Dec. 15 to help set up and decorate for the party, held Sunday Dec. 16, which was held at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center in South Boston.

Stoughton Life Teen helped to create over 6,000 paper snowflakes which were used to decorate the hundreds of tables set up for guests. They also helped to create unique placemats for each of the 5,000+ seats with Christmas themes such as "Joy" and "Peace" and images of Rudolph, Santa and even the Grinch.

On Dec. 16, some 4,000 kids and their parents (nearly 2,000) were bussed to the Convention Center.

Stoughton Life Teen volunteers were responsible for registering guests from three different shelters. They served guests a Christmas meal and took kids around to see different exhibits from places such as the Museum of Science and the New England Aquarium.

The South Central Mass Choir sang Christmas and gospel music on stage in addition to other high energy musical and dancing performances.

Injured Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman wished everyone a joyful holiday season and was mobbed after leaving the stage by fans looking for a picture or an autograph.

Other special guests included several of the Celtics dancers, Massachusetts Senator-Elect Elizabeth Warren and Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick.

Santa and Mrs. Claus opened up a huge "Winter Wonderland" following the meal which has dozens of amusement rides, inflatables and even live pony rides. Stoughton teens led smiling children around to the rides and shared in their joy.

Christmas in the City receives gifts donated by good people all around the Commonwealth and ensures that each child receives one gift from their wish list. The Stoughton teens assisted in delivering these gifts to the children.

This event is probably Stoughton Life Teen most popular service event the group does all year. The teens love interacting with the kids and they walk away with a deeper appreciation of the things they have that they might take for granted and that Christmas isn't necessarily about what is under the tree but about the joy and peace that God brings through the newborn Jesus and how they serve as His hands and feet in this world in the service to those from the shelters.

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Take a look at photos from Christmas in the City in the media gallery of this article.

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