Carol McMillin: Making wishes come true

She is the elf who helps give more than 1,000 children the kind of Christmas they’ve wished for, although her work is likely unknown to many.

Freedom Torch Award for Community Service finalist Carol McMillin, 63, coordinates the toy drive for the Community Santa Campaign. She also is a co-chair for Camp Blue Sky, president and 15-year member of the Women’s Service League, and a member of an art advocacy committee at State Fair Community College.

But, the Community Santa Campaign “kind of steals your heart,” McMillin said. 

“Maybe that’s the only time through the entire year that some of these children can wish for something and have a reasonable expectation of getting it, just the way they wished it,” she said. 

McMillin has been in charge of buying, sorting, soliciting and organizing toys for the campaign for the past five years. She works year-round to collect toys, books and games for children, but begins putting in more hours from October to December. In the final three weeks, she typically works seven days a week, logging 60 hours each week. 

McMillin takes care to grant the Christmas wishes of children. Each child also gets a book, a “lovie” — what McMillin calls a stuffed animal — and games their family can play together. She also makes sure every gently used toy that is donated is cleaned and sanitized. 

Elle Wasson, who nominated McMillin for the Torch Award, said McMillin is the type of person who “does so many things in the community,” but “flies under the radar.”

“It takes those people to get things done, and I’ve seen her work and just been really impressed,” Wasson said.

Coordinating all the toys is hard work. 

“Someone said to me, ‘Oh you don’t work,’ ” McMillin said. “And I said, ‘Oh, you misunderstand. I work; I don’t get paid.’ It’s work, but it’s such rewarding work.”

 The rewards come from the tears of joy from a mother “thrilled because of what has been given to her,” McMillin said. Or, the thrill she has when the elements come together to make the perfect gift for a child.

McMillin is a hometown girl who was born in Sedalia and later moved to Kansas City where she taught English at Grandview Middle School. McMillin returned to Sedalia when her husband, Mac, changed jobs. 

She managed Reed & Sons Jewelers for 12 years before working at Memory Book for about seven years. McMillin also started her own business as a professional organizer called Organizing Solutions Unlimited. She would organize or arrange furniture, papers, files and space.

“I’ve always loved bringing order out of chaos; it just appeals to me,” she said.

McMillin retired from 9-to-5 jobs about five years ago, and began volunteering more often. She said the decision to pursue the philanthropic work was subconscious. It was more of a calling coupled with having the right opportunities.

“I do think you reach a point in your life when you need to give back, and I’ve been very lucky,” she said. “Life has been good to me.”

About 10 years ago, a friend suggested McMillin might be interested in helping with Camp Blue Sky, a weeklong arts camp for youngsters in kindergarten to fifth grade.

McMillin said the camp is an opportunity for children to experience art on a higher level than they would get anywhere else.

“Some of them are going to develop a real love of art. The ones that don’t develop a love of art are going to develop an appreciation of art,” she said. “So that’s a huge thing for me.”

McMillin volunteers her time to organize the camp, but “it’s not philanthropic in the sense that it’s free, but I think it’s a service Sedalia needs.

“I don’t think everything has to be totally without some kind of cost to be valuable,” she said.