Carol McMillin is Freedom Torch Award winner

But Christmas morning for 1,200 Sedalia children is special because of the work and dedication of Carol McMillin. 

McMillin, 63, was selected by The Sedalia Democrat as recipient of the 2009 Freedom Torch Award for community service. She was honored at a banquet Saturday night, along with nine other finalists. 

“I’m overwhelmed,” McMillin said. “The candidates are people that I admire, and it truly was an honor to be a part of that group.”

McMillin’s mother, Betty Schroeder, who attended the event Saturday, said she was proud of her daughter.

“She’s always been busy, helping do for others,” Schroeder said.

McMillin said she thought the Torch Award for community service was a good idea and she was honored to be a finalist, but she said others were probably more worthy of the attention. 

“I’m just doing what I do because I like it. ... For a long time, I don’t think people even knew I was doing the Santa thing, and that was fine with me,” she said. 

McMillin describes herself as “a take charge kind of person,” so when she serves on a committee, she is very vocal.

“On the other hand, I’m not too crazy about being the center of attention,” she said. “I’d rather organize it, and have someone else be in the spotlight.”

Elle Wasson, who nominated McMillin, recalled a conversation she had with McMillin’s husband, Mac, in which he described McMillin as someone who “flies under the radar.”

“She’s always in the background. She’s that worker that you need,” Wasson said. “We all have great ideas, but to follow through on those ideas and make them happen is what Carol does.”

McMillin is the toy coordinator, or head elf, of the Community Santa Campaign. She also is president of the Women’s Service League; co-chairwoman of Camp Blue Sky, a week-long arts camp for youth; a member of arts advocacy boards at State Fair Community College; and is a “parent” with the SFCC athletic booster club’s “adopt a player” program. 

McMillin retired from professional work and began volunteering full time about five years ago. But her compassion for others started at an early age. McMillin’s mother tells stories about how she would bring children home to live with them when she was in the first grade. The children may have been having a tough time at home, and McMillin would offer a place for them to stay until their lives became more stable. 

“I’m not one of those people who cry at a drop of the hat, I’m not that kind of an emotionally out-there person,” McMillin said. “But I think I’m very empathetic and I spot a problem and I do have the need to see if I can solve that problem — or at least help with that problem.” 

McMillin was born and raised in Sedalia. She lived in Kansas City for 15 years while she taught English courses for the Grandview school district. McMillin returned to Sedalia when her husband started a job here. She worked a couple of different jobs and started her own professional organizing business. 

Her organizing skills come in handy in her work with the Community Santa Campaign. She helps organize toys and volunteers, purchases gifts, cleans gently used toys and collects donations. McMillin works all year looking for good deals on toys and books. 

From October to December, McMillin begins putting in more hours. And it’s work. She sanitizes every used toy, shops nearly every day and organizes a mini-store in the campaign’s workshop, with toys being separated by type and age. She works 60-hour weeks in the final month leading up to distribution. The campaign is close to McMillin’s heart.

“The idea that somewhere there are children getting up to nothing (on Christmas) is just intolerable,” she said. “So at least we are giving them the opportunity, if they’ll come sign up; we’re going to see that there’s something under the tree.” 

McMillin reviews the children’s requests. The goal is to fulfill wishes, within reason, rather than selecting generic gender and age-appropriate gifts. McMillin said she doesn’t think she could distribute gifts to children that weren’t specific to each child. 

“It doesn’t have the same feel for me,” she said. “And while I never meet these children, I feel like I’ve had a connection with them, and I do.”

McMillin could recall children from the past by the gifts they received, although she doesn’t remember their names. They are “the family with four children under the age of 6, who received a gently used play kitchen,” and “two girls who requested scrapbook supplies.”

“I’m sure we miss the mark sometimes, but not for lack of trying,” McMillin said. “And every one of the girls that helps package, you’ll see them angsting over” what the children will like.

Among the requests that stick out is a child who asked for an acoustic guitar. McMillin said when she read the request, she knew she would have to call the parent and ask for an alternative wish — something she rarely does. But she knew the guitar was beyond the campaign’s budget. Later that very afternoon, a man walked in and asked if the campaign could use a gently used acoustic guitar. 

“That particular one astounded me,” McMillin said. 

She took the guitar to Instrumental Influence for a tune and guitar pick, and her brother brought the finish back on the woodwork. The business and her brother donated their services. McMillin said the thing she likes about this story is that it shows what the Santa Campaign is all about — the community coming together to help.

“This child got an acoustic guitar, at no expense to us really, but a lot of people felt really good about what they were able to do, and he got exactly what he wanted,” she said. “So when a plan comes together, a plan just comes together.”

Bob Milner, chairman of the Santa Campaign, has worked with McMillin the past two years. He said she works tirelessly to make sure every child has a Christmas gift, recruits volunteers and organizes all the toys to make it easier for those helping. 

“She is completely dedicated to what she does to help the kids of Pettis County,” he said. 

McMillin is “as upbeat as they come,” Milner said. 

“I don’t think I’ve seen her too many times not just fired up to do what she does,” he said.

Christmas aside, some of McMillin’s other volunteer work is centered on the arts. She began volunteering to organize Camp Blue Sky about 10 years ago. McMillin believes children should have exposure to different kinds of arts. Her interest in the arts is not based on her own skills. But “you don’t have to be a great artist to have a great appreciation for art,” McMillin said.

“I can’t sing. I cannot dance,” she said. “My artistic skills are rustic at best. But I love all that. I love music. I love dance. I love theater, above all else. I went to a small school and there weren’t art classes and all the choral groups. That’s an area of my life I didn’t get to explore.”

McMillin is modest about her service. That’s because she thinks about important works of others, including those in the military and hospital workers. 

“I couldn’t do those things,” she said. “I guess it’s all important. Everyone has to do their part. This is just my part.”