By Diane Petryk
SUNBURY — Braden Gully went to sleep Friday night with a stomach full of roast beef and ham, macaroni and cheese and mashed potatoes ... and a brand-new bicycle beside his bed.
Spending Christmas in a homeless shelter while his parents work to get back on their feet didn’t mean going without Christmas for the 10-year-old.
Once the weather improves, he’ll be out on his red Tony Hawks BMX “Stunt” Bike, a gift from the Susquehanna Valley Motorcycle Club.
He’ll be reading more Dr. Seuss, wielding a light-up Duncan yo-yo, playing Sorry with his family, building with a K’Nex play set, doing mind puzzles from an activity book and playing with loads and loads of Tech Decks — finger skateboards.
Santa also outfitted him from head to toe — a digital watch, Spiderman cap and gloves, jeans, sneakers, and the usual under garments, too.
His sister, Kayden, 2, received crayons, toys and clothes as well, and gifts and gift certificates were given to 16 others at the Haven Ministry shelter in Sunbury.
“We take the holidays seriously because these are people who don’t usually get things,” said Catherine Teisher, Haven’s executive director.
There are 18 people at the shelter, she said. Two families with two children each and 10 adults. The teenagers among them received individualized gifts and $50 Wal-Mart gift certificates. The adults received similar gifts.
And all feasted on a big Christmas dinner.
Resources for the gifts come from donations, Teisher said.
The shelter, founded by an ecumenical group of Valley church congregations in 1990, exists for emergency assistance.
“To help people with whatever they need to get back out there as contributing members of society,” Teisher said.
Adults stay usually a couple of months, providing they’re looking for work, saving money and doing what they need to do, she said.
Braden’s mother, Jean Gully, and step-father, Wesley Brumlow, once lived in Northumberland. Then Brumlow lost his job with Systematic Filing in Danville and they could not afford the rent any more.
Just after Kayden was born, Gully suffered a number of medical complications that prevented her from holding a job, and they are ongoing.
“Wesley is trying (to get a job) every day,” Teisher said. “I look at his list and honestly can’t think of another place to send him.”
However, those who try usually find something, she said.
Haven’s motto is: “Part-time is better than no time and minimum wage is better than no wage.”
Freeloaders don’t come to Haven, she said, because it’s too much work. Gully and Brumlow work very hard around the shelter, she said.
Braden is well-mannered and considerate.
“He’s not a boy who just grew up,” Teisher said. “He was raised.”
In addition to playing, Braden said he likes to read books of facts, like Guinness records books and Ripley’s, and fiction in the form of illustrated classics like “The Invisible Man,” “Rip Van Winkle” and “Moby Dick.”
For Christmas dinner for the whole group, his mother made a fruit and marshmallow confection known as “Heaven.”
The main course was roast beef and ham, with macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, “and the vegetables we were canning and freezing during the summer,” Teisher said. “That’s one of the things we teach.”
Haven also provides emergency help to many people off-site. When social services calls about a family without enough food, Haven steps in.
“I hate to see them have to place a child (in foster care) because there’s no food when we have it to give them,” Teisher said.
Christmas is always a joy for Teisher and her staff.
“It’s a lot of fun,” she said, “but tiring, too.”
She went home for a well-deserved rest about 5 p.m.
Braden will sleep with his new bike beside his bed, and the knowledge that professional skateboarder Tony Hawks sent him an autograph.
