The History of Christmas In April *
by
Bobby Trimble & Tracye Vaughn

It grew from an idea the size of a mustard seed into a national program that helps thousands each year.


1972
The seeds for Christmas in April were planted in 1972 in Midland, Texas.  Bobby Trimble was teaching his young men's Sunday School Class at Alamo Heights Baptist Church from James 2:14-17.  In paraphrasing he told them, "If you see your neighbor in feed of food and clothing, and say to them, God bless you, I will pray for you, and send them on their way, what good does it do."  He told them there is more to being a Christian than just going to church!  The lesson encouraged the class to step outside the church walls and work on homes of women without husbands in the community.  At first the repairs were small, such as repairing gates, furnaces, evaporative coolers, etc...  This developed into larger projects and continued through the summer of 1973.


1973
In the fall of 1973, the seed began to sprout.  The Park Center YMCA Executive Director, Bruce Stories, and YMCA Board Members wanted to clean up vacant lots in the area.  These lots were located in a low income minority section of the community.
Trimble attended the Park Center YMCA meeting chaired by Mr. Earl Booker.  With Trimble's input, they decided to expand their original plans and include home repair of a few elderly residents in the area.

Human Relations Council Executive Director, Dick Schmidt, Park Center Executive Director, Bruce Stories and Park Center Board Member Vic Rogers took charge of publicity and fund raising for this event.  Bobby Trimble and other volunteers surveyed applicants' homes deciding which repairs would be done.  In October 1973, 17 homes were repaired.

In December, the  YMCA Executive Director, HRC and those who had worked as House Captains met and discussed the work done in October.  Everyone agreed to do another project in six months, putting the annual workday in April.


1974
Vic Rogers with Park Central YMCA.

In 1974, during an interview with a female recipient, Vic Rogers asked what she thought of the program.  She replied, "Lordy, it was just like Christmas."  At the next meeting of all involved they unanimously agreed to call the program,
"Christmas in April."

That year they lost the help of Stories, who left Midland to pursue his career in another city.


1975
The YMCA opted to withdraw from the program and the HRC allowed Christmas in April to work under the shelter of their 501-C-3 nonprofit status.  Dick Schmidt and Vic Rogers continued to handle fund raising and publicity.  Roosevelt Campbell, with the HRC, and Trimble surveyed prospective CIA applicants.


1976
In May 1976, Trimble set up the first CIA Board of Directors which was made up of former CIA House Captains.  Trimble was elected President.  CIA lost the help of Dick Schmidt who returned to the Presbyterian Ministry and moved to Lamesa.

In the spring of 1976, Trimble surveyed the home of Mrs. Lillian Friday.  She was living in an 8 x 10 storage building behind her sister's house.  Unfortunately, her home was not selected as an April project.  Trimble shared Mrs. Friday's plight with his Sunday School Class and they decided to build her a new home next door to her sister, Mrs. Feltie Houston.  The home was built with volunteer labor and donations from Alamo Heights Baptist Church.  Trimble would not know the impact of this project on the CIA program until 1980.


Mrs. Feltie Houston and Bobby Trimble in front of her house & her sister, Mrs. Lillian Friday's home.

 
1977-1980
The relationship with the HRC existed from 1975 through April 1980.  Trimble applied for and received, Christmas in April's Charter with the State of Texas and a 501-C-3 tax-exempt status from the IRS in September 1980.
Mrs. Felite Houston & Bobby Trimble in front of first warehouse.

As Christmas in April grew so did the need for space to store materials.  For a short time CIA used and old tin building owned by St. Anne's Catholic Church.  In 1980, Mrs. Lillian Friday passed away and her sister, Mrs. Feltie Houston (80 years old)  moved in with her daughter.  Mrs. Houston contacted Trimble and told him that she wanted to give him her house, her sister's home, and three lots.  He sold these properties and purchased a 2,800 sq. ft. structure which was the first Christmas in April warehouse.  As fate would have it, the property was only half a block from the sister's homes.  This gift was "the widow's mite!"


1981
In 1981 Kim Modisett submitted Trimble's name to Governor Bill Clements' office for the  Governor's Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service.  Trimble was presented the award by Mrs. Bill Clements at a dinner in Austin, Texas.  This award launched the Christmas in April program into national recognition.


1982
The seeds that were planted kept growing.  Trimble and his wife, Shirley, began to receive inquiries about CIA from cities throughout the nation.  From their home, they mailed packets of information with instructions of how to start a CIA program in a community.  They knew that there was a need for a national program, but they did not have the funding or the know-how to get one started.
Trimble at The White House in 1982 with President and Mrs. Ronald Regan.

Mrs. Bill Clements nominated Trimble for the President's Volunteer Action Award, a program initiated by President Ronald Reagan.  Trimble received the award in April 1982 at a luncheon in the White House.  Attending the luncheon was a Reader's Digest executive who sent one of his senior editors to Midland to write a story about Trimble and the CIA program.  This senior editor was Trevor Armbrister.

Armbrister came to Midland Friday before the CIA workday.  He was not very impress with the program until be began talking to the many volunteers who came to pick up materials at the CIA warehouse.  Armbrister and Trimble met early Saturday morning for breakfast and began to talk about the program and all the people who were involved.  During the day, Armbrister went from project to project and talked to the homeowners and volunteers.  He could not believe people would give their time and money to purchase materials and work on homes of perfect strangers!  When Armbrister's plane left for Washington, D.C., he was completely sold on Christmas in April.


1983
In 1983, Armbrister convinced his church in Washington, D.C. to start a Christmas in April program.  Trimble and Armbrister spent many hours on the phone discussing step by step implementation.

Trimble was asked to present the CIA program to Cisco, Big Spring, Pecos, Odessa, and Witchita Falls, Texas.  The Midland program expanded in to helping with emergency plumbing and heating repairs year-round.

Also, in 1983, Mayor Thane Atkins, and the Midland City Council approached Trimble about applying to HUD (through Christmas in April), to build an apartment complex to house low-income elderly.  HUD would only accept applications from nonprofit programs with excellent reputations in the community.  The application was accepted, and the local CIA board set up a nonprofit organization called Langtry Village.  The new five story, 85 unit building was completed in May 1986, for three million dollars.  The CIA board continues to oversee this property and Trimble has been President since inception.


1984-1988
The need for a national program was becoming critical if CIA was to spread throughout the U.S.  Trimble was limited to reaching only cities in Texas.  A national program could be a clearing house whereby interested parties from all over the country could receive vital information on starting a CIA program.  Trimble spoke to Armbrister and he bagan to put the wheels in motion.

After Armbrister's intense work and contacts, Christmas in April, USA was kicked off in 1988, with the help of Steve Winchell, John McMeel and Bobby Trimble.  Steve Winchell loaned the program $10,000 to get it started, and Patty Johnson, former Executive Director of the Washington, D.C. CIA program, was hired as the first Executive Director for Christmas in April, USA.  Thirteen cities were involved the first year.

In the summer of 1988, Trimble was contacted by the city about its plans to widen Lamesa Road.  Christmas in April would be forced to vacate its warehouse by December 1988.  (The warehouse was located on the northwest corner of Lamesa Rd. and E. New York.)  The city agreed to purchase the property for $25,000.  Trimble began to look in the surrounding area for new space, but none was available.  He contacted Mr. John Evans who owned a condemned apartment complex one block away from the existing warehouse.  The complex consisted of three buildings 28' wide by 104' long.  One building had been burned in the middle.  Mr. Evans sold Christmas in April the property and three lots for $1.00.

Hundreds of volunteer hours went into rebuilding the new warehouse.  They tore down the burned structure and materials that were salvageable were used to restore the other two buildings.  (For example, the 2 x 8' s were used to construct trusses for two gable roofs.)  The new warehouse had 7,000 sq.ft and was completed in April 1989 for $40,000.


1989-Present
Since its inception Christmas in April* Midland has repaired 3,986 homes.  More than 30,000 volunteers have given their time and talents to help the elderly and disabled in the comminity.  Thousands have given unselfishly from their pocket books so that others may have safe housing.  Christmas in April* Midland continues to help the elderly and disabled with emergency heating and plumbing throughout the year, and Trimble is still at the helm!
Danny Dozier, Bobby Busby, Bobby Trimble, Terry Claiborne, Richard Pierce.

What started as a seed of an idea in a Sunday School class, has been cultivated into a national program!



 

Leadership Midland Group.

 
      

    Links     Qualifications     Board Members     Yearly Figures

   

27 Years of Volunteer Service      Get Involved!      


    Procedures     1998 Statistics     1999 Statistics     Photo Gallery        


Email US!!!



Midland'sVolunteer Housing Project Since 1972

Christmas in April is a trademarked national organization. The use or reproduction of Christmas in April materials or the name or logo without prior consent is strictly prohibited.