Christmas Bureau’s longest-serving volunteer says he’ll stay as long as he can stand

One memory stands out for Fred Preston, a Christmas Bureau volunteer for the past 23 years.

It happened some dozen years ago. He lifted a small girl, about 4 years old, so she could see Mr. and Mrs. Claus. He’ll never forget the joy he saw in her face, he said.

“I remember the look in her eyes, and I’ll never forget that,” said Preston, 63. “It melted my heart. That’s why I come every year. I don’t think I’d want to do anything else during Christmas time.”

Preston, who currently is the Christmas Bureau’s most tenured volunteer, usually works as a greeter for the 30,000 people who may wait in line for hours during the event, which runs Dec. 10-19, excluding Dec. 13. He is among some 400 volunteers for the bureau, a decades-old Spokane tradition of caring and compassion, providing toys, books and food vouchers for more than 9,000 needy families.

The Christmas Bureau is held at the Spokane County Fair and Expo. Between now and Christmas, the charity relies on donors to raise $525,000 for the event.

Back in the 1990s, other volunteers referred to Preston as “the young guy” who could hop into trucks for unloading, recalled Marilee Roloff, Volunteers of America CEO.

He’s still willing to do that this year, if asked, said Preston, who worked more than 43 years as a roofer until retiring in 2012. “I think roofing helped me stay in shape.”

Preston said he does a number of odd jobs at the Christmas Bureau whenever asked by its coordinator Judy Lee, who described him as her go-to guy for miscellaneous chores during the event.

“Fred has great passion for the Christmas Bureau,” Lee said. “He is someone I can call on to run errands, hang signs, and transport equipment. He just says, ‘Judy, what can I do for you?’ In that way, he gives me and the bureau tremendous support.

“Even more importantly, Fred has a tremendous heart for the recipients of our event. He helps monitor the lines and is always friendly and caring and watching out to see that everyone is happy and safe.”

In 1991, Preston briefly visited the bureau for the first time, invited by Ken Trent, late director of Volunteers of America. Preston said that quick look around with Trent convinced him to sign up as a volunteer in 1992.

“Ken is the one who gave me the sense of why it’s important to give without expecting anything in return,” Preston said. “I wanted to be a part of that.”

He also credits Trent with teaching him to trust that the Spokane community always would come through with enough money to help needy families, so that children would have gifts on Christmas morning.

“For us, for this community, to raise a half a million dollars, that just puzzles me that we can do that, and we’ve always come through.” Preston said. “In the past, I’d be concerned, but Ken would say, ‘We’re going to go on faith and this will happen.’” What a great community we have.”

It meant so much to Preston each year that he’d ask for time off from work in December to be at the bureau. He recalls when people would stand hours outside in the cold, before the bureau landed at the fairgrounds.

“They’d be outside in subzero temperatures, and they would wait in line to get a toy for their child,” Preston said. “They’d wait two or three hours. I thought, if they can do that, I’ll do that. I’ll be outside with them.”

Because he often works as a greeter, he gets to meet a thousand families a day. He said he most enjoys talking to them and guiding them to a computer table to get signed up.

“If nothing else, you give them a smile and tell them, ‘We’re glad you’re here,’” he added. “I think they know we’re there for them.”

Preston’s wife, Ramona Preston, died in November 2010 from pancreatic cancer. Every year, she’d expect him to return to the fairgrounds during December.

“She’d know I’d be there,” he said. “As long as I can stand on my feet, I’ll be there every year.”