THE GENEROSITY OF MY COMMUNITY is never more publicly visible than each December, when artificial Christmas trees are decorated, displayed and then donated to those in need.
This past weekend I toured the trees rimming the ice skating rink at Faribault’s new community gathering spot, Viaduct Park. That park centered recent Winterfest activities.
As I slowly walked along the sidewalk looking at the festive trees, I thought of those who gave and those who will receive. Businesses, organizations, nonprofits, churches and more participate in the Adopt-a-Tree project with 77 trees gifted this year.
The program was started by the Faribault Parks & Recreation Department in 2020 to bring a little holiday cheer to the community during the COVID-19 pandemic. Each December since, those numbers have steadily grown from 20 trees that first year to nearly 80 today. That’s a whole lot of families receiving Christmas trees. Families that might otherwise go without a tree because of the cost of buying one.
Now, more than ever, with the price of groceries and other necessities rising, the need seems especially great. We’re all feeling the pinch in our pocketbooks. But, if you’re living on an especially tight budget, the reality is that maybe you can’t afford a tree or gifts. And that’s where my community, like so many others across Minnesota and the country, steps up and gives from the heart.
When I think back to my own childhood, I realize my parents likely scrimped and saved to buy Christmas presents for me and my five siblings. We maybe got two gifts each. And we were ecstatic to receive those.
Our Christmas tree was so small that it sat on the end of our Formica kitchen table. To this day, I look for a Charlie Brown tree because of the fond childhood memories associated with a less-than-perfect tiny tree.
I hope the children in my community whose families receive Adopt-a-Tree trees will feel the same Christmas joy. I hope they feel the love of those who care about them, who want them to have a Christmas tree in their homes. Likewise, if they receive gifts through many of the giving programs in Faribault, I hope they feel loved.
Perhaps some day, they, too, will give back, reflecting on those hard times when others uplifted them during the holidays. My husband and his sibling were on the receiving end of such giving during their childhood. Today Randy and I are part of a bible study group at Trinity Lutheran Church that facilitates a Christmas Angel Program. We’ll gather soon to wrap all those donated gifts.
Kindness. Compassion. Care. All shine bright in Faribault from those donated Christmas trees to every single gift purchased for someone in need. Both reflect the spirit of the season. And that is a spirit of love and of generosity.
FYI: If you want to see the Adopt-a-Tree trees, look soon. They are coming down early this week. Thank you to all who participated in this project.
© Copyright 2025 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
Reflections on diversity & growing community in Faribault December 30, 2025
Tags: art, commentary, community, Congregational Church of Faribault United Church of Christ, diversity, Faribault, Jason Rainey, Minnesota, multi-cultural community, mural, painting, reflections, Shirley Rainey
WHAT ARE WE without community? The answer: alone.
We, at our very core, need each other. In times of celebration. In times of challenges. Even in times of great division. Without friends, family, neighbors and others, we are but individuals without community.
And in Faribault, among the many murals adorning public spaces in the downtown area, one piece of art stands out as representing community. That is a free-standing mural placed on the west side of the Congregational Church of Faribault United Church of Christ this past summer. It seems an appropriate focal point to end 2025 and begin the new year.
The artwork, created by Shirley Rainey and her son Jason, features outstretched arms rising from the earth against a backdrop red heart and blue sky. “The mural represents the importance of coming together to share burdens and triumphs, while reaching for our highest selves,” Rainey said in an artist’s statement.
I see that in the mural. But I also see a community of diversity. The Raineys show that in assorted skin tones, clothing, hand sizes and even henna painted on a hand. I love that about this art, this intentional, varied depiction of Faribault as it is—gloriously diverse.
That said, I am well aware of the racial tension (and that’s a tamped down word) in my community. I wish it didn’t exist, that we all got along, welcomed and embraced one another. We are, after all, just people who live, love, work, play, laugh, cry… The list of commonalities we share as humans goes on and on. Yes, we are different, too. But differences seen as negative, those we create.
We can learn from that church painting. We can choose to love one another, as portrayed in the over-sized backdrop red heart. We can stand side-by-side and raise our hands to help one another. We can see, in those arms stretched skyward, the possibilities in building community. In that blue sky, we can envision not only our personal dreams, but the dreams of all who call Faribault home.
Faribault is a multi-cultural community, always has been. From early settlement days to today, people have come here from around the world to start anew. Whether French, Irish, German, Scandinavian, Latino, Asian, Sudanese, Somalian or any of many other ethnicities, this place has become home. We can choose to create community or not.
I hope in 2026 that Faribault can build a better, stronger, more unified community which celebrates our commonalities, and our differences.
© Copyright 2025 Audrey Kletscher Helbling