Business Innovators Radio - The Inspired Impact Podcast with Judy Carlson-Interview with Claire Johnston, Executive Director, Christmas Commandos

Episode Date: October 21, 2025

Claire Johnston is a wife, mother, and, as her husband proudly jokes, a social work entrepreneur. Claire is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and certified Oncology Social Worker. She is also a childhood cancer survivor herself, which propelled her work into the field of social work to help others who are navigating challenging circumstances. Claire works part-time as the Oncology Social Worker at AdventHealth Porter in Denver, is an adjunct faculty for the Graduate School of Social Work at the University of Denver, and works on a contract basis in the field of child welfare.Claire is also the Executive Director of, and inspiration behind, Christmas Commandos, a nonprofit organization that provides emotional support during the holiday season to families who have experienced an out of order loss of a loved one. This support is delivered through the anonymous and secret delivery of meaningful gifts for surviving family members, which are specially shopped for, wrapped and packaged with love. These gifts are secretly delivered to the recipient family’s doorstep one evening leading up to Christmas, tagged with a note signed from the Christmas Commandos. The note shares that these gifts have been delivered in the spirit of love as a reminder that their community has not forgotten about them during an incredibly difficult time in their lives. A small angel statue in memory of their loved one is also left on their doorstep, and their front yard is decorated with holiday cheer – garlands, ornaments, and candy canes.https://www.christmascommandos.org/https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064881512164https://www.instagram.com/christmascommandos*************************************************************Judy Carlson is the CEO and Founder of the Judy Carlson Financial Group, where she helps couples create personalized, coordinated financial plans that support the life they want to live – now and in the future.As an Independent Fiduciary and Comprehensive Financial Planner, Judy specializes in retirement income and wealth decumulation strategies. She is a CPA, Investment Advisor Representative, licensed in life and health insurance, and certified in long-term care planning.Judy’s mission is to help guide clients with clarity and care, building financial plans that focus on real planning built around real lives.Learn More: https://judycarlson.com/Investment Adviser Representative of and advisory services offered through Royal Fund Management, LLC, a SEC Registered Adviser.The Inspired Impact Podcasthttps://businessinnovatorsradio.com/the-inspired-impact-podcast/Source: https://businessinnovatorsradio.com/the-inspired-impact-podcast-with-judy-carlson-interview-with-claire-johnston-executive-director-christmas-commandos

Welcome to the Inspired Impact Podcast, where dedicated female professionals share how they inspire impact every day. Authentic stories, passionate commitment, lives transformed. I'm your host, Judy Carlson. Welcome to today's episode of the Inspired Impact Podcast. I am super excited to introduce you to today's guest. Her husband calls her a social work entrepreneur. I love that.

She has had an amazing, she has an amazing career, but she's the executive director of a nonprofit that's near and dear to her heart called Christmas Commandoes. Claire Johnston, welcome to the podcast. Thank you so much, Judy. I'm so happy to be here with you today and with your listeners. Yeah, I'm excited. to hear your story and especially what was on your heart to start Christmas Commando. So go ahead and start your story wherever it's comfortable for you. Thank you so much. Well, the Christmas Commandos

was actually started by my mom 26 years ago. So she gets the credit for the idea and for bringing this mission to life. And this started 26 years ago because 30 years ago, roughly, I guess I'm a little bit older, as I said, that number out loud, than I realized about 34 years ago, I was diagnosed with pediatric liver cancer. Oh my gosh. I was, yes, I was 15 months old. I am the youngest of four girls. So my parents were busy raising four girls. And at my 15 month well baby checkup, a mass was felt on my abdomen that changed the trajectory of my life and of my family's life. And that's where Christmas commandos started. So through my journey with cancer treatment, I and my family was blessed to have me walk out of the hospital and be a survivor.

But my mom and my family met a lot of other families that didn't have that outcome, that experienced the loss of their child in a way that no one should. And so my mom's whole life changed. And she began to wonder what she could do for those families who were hurting and grieving so immensely. So about seven years or so after my diagnosis, my family moved from Chicago, where we lived when I was ill and where I received my treatment, to South Bend, Indiana, about two hours east and across the state borders. And my mom began to dream up Christmas Commandoes. Christmas Commandoes is a nonprofit that brings emotional support to those grieving

during the holiday season. To families who have experienced what we call an out-of-order loss, the loss of a child, the loss of a parent with children still at home, or just an unexpected loss, the loss of an individual too soon. She recognized that the holiday season was a much heavier time for grief. There is joy surrounding all of our communities around the holidays. And when you're grieving your loved one, that grief and that isolation feels so much heavier when around you is joy and love. So she started the Christmas Commandoes in 1999 in our basement in Granger, Indiana, a small city right outside of South Bend. And that year, we brought Christmas commandos to five families.

And over the past 26 years, it has grown exponentially and in a way that she could never really have a map. at its inception. So 26 years later, well, really 25 years later, my mom officially retired from what we call, yes, the executive director, but more so we call her and this role the chief commando. Chief Commando, I love that. Yes. I don't really know where it first came about, but that's always what we've called her our chief in charge. And so last year in 2020, she stepped down from her role as chief commando and passed off the torch to myself to continue to run Christmas commandos, to grow Christmas commandos, not only because my story is inspiration behind the mission, but because I am a licensed clinical social worker. I work in the

space of oncology professionally and the grief space. And so this is natural for me to step in and lead this organization moving forward. Your listeners might be wondering how this came from South and Indiana to the greater Denver area. My entire family, my three older sisters and my parents, all relocated to Denver because it's a beautiful area, a beautiful part of our country. In 2012-ish, my sisters and I were the first to come. My parents came in 2020. And we brought commandos with us. Okay.

Because we know that grief is universal. It touches all communities. It touches every zip code, touches families of all socioeconomic backgrounds, faith. Every peep person walking among us, unfortunately, will experience grief. And so the first Christmas that we brought commandos here was in 2017. My sisters and I just came together as a leadership team and brought the mission to about 10 families across the larger Denver metro area. Last year in 2025, we served 25 families in Greater Denver Metro in Castle Rock, in Castle Pines, Highlands Ranch, Roomfield, Denver, Aurora, Colorado Springs. We have people who are willing to be a part of it in all communities.

So that's a little bit of our background. And I would love to share more about what Christmas Commandoes really looks like and what we do and how our mission comes to life. Absolutely. Let's get into life. Wonderful. Awesome. So we receive nominations for families in the community who have experienced a loss. You can nominate. Any community member can nominate directly on our website. And we know of families as well in our own communities, mine, my moms, my sisters, and our close friends. And then when we get a nomination, we reach out and find a contact for that family who

knows them personally. And we ask them to fill out a family information form, which asks and gathers information about the likes, interest, passions, needs of each. surviving family member. We really want to know what makes their hearts sing. And then we have wonderful shopper volunteers who go out the months of October, November, and shop for each surviving family member as if they are their own. We also gift all of our family is what we call our universal items. Each family gets a cozy blanket to snuggle up with together. Every family gets a game that is a silly family game to elicit laughter and joy.

Every family gets our beautiful custom believe ornament that we've heard from recipients over the past 20 years that they hang on their tree every season as a reminder of the community that loves them. And every family gets a garden angel statue. It's in memory of their loved one. And the angel statue is what we've heard. It's the most prized gift. that these families receive on their doorstep.

It's a reminder of their loved one, and it's a reminder that their loved one is with them. Families put these statue in their garden, on their front step, on their mantle, as a reminder. And so our shoppers come together one evening, early December, for a large wrapping night event, where all the gifts are brought, all the wrapping happens. There's joy, there's laughter.

It's a beautiful evening, because we know that we are bringing such joy to these families who are feeling such grief. We package it in our big Christmas commandos custom boxes, and then we give them to our deliverers who really make the magic happen. So one evening, the week of Christmas, our deliverers stealthily and quietly go to our recipient's home, drop the basket on their doorstep with the angel statue. sitting next to it and decorate their yard with Christmas decorations, pencil, ornaments, garland, candy canes,

in hopes that the family the next morning, or maybe when they come home from church that evening, if it's Christmas Eve, that they will see something, catch their eye outside their window, and say, what is that? And open the door to discover the magic. Wow.

And the magic is even greater because our mission, is completely based in anonymity. Our recipients don't know who we are. They don't know who is trudged up to their doorstep. They don't know who has wrapped and purchased for them so thoughtfully. And that's the point. We want our recipients to know that their community loves them and hold them during such a difficult time.

There's a note left with every package that simply says these gifts are brought to you in the spirit of love. We know how difficult this season must be for you. And these gifts are to remind you that you have not been forgotten by your community and you are loved. Signed the Christmas commandos. And we simply want families to open this gift and think, oh, my goodness, who knows me so well? Someone loves me that did this. So they can be at the grocery store or in church or at school and look around and say, was it you? Was it you?

Was it you? And feel like it was everyone. because that's what we want. So that is how our mission is delivered and brought to life. And it's just loving your neighbors and holding people in your hearts that are walking through a really dark time. When the couple or the family that you find that knows the family that lost their loved one, they must give you like the name and the age and the information that they have.

have about the people who are living in that home. And then do you put the name of the individual on each of the gifts so they know which gifts are for who? Yes. Absolutely. I'm so glad you asked that question, Judy. Yes. Every gift is wrapped and addressed to just the first name because we want them to feel

like it's personal, like it's from someone they know. So some gifts in the box are addressed to Judy, some are to Claire, some are to John. and everyone has gifts to unpack. And then those universal gifts that I mentioned, some of those are addressed to the family, to the Carlson family, to the Johnston family. And I'd also note that we also shop for the family's pets, if they have any, cats and dogs.

And we address those little gift to the pet's name too, again, to really say that we know them. I will share cats and dogs. kind of where we draw the line. We haven't given gift for bunnies or hamsters, but if there's really a need, we'd love to. But that's a real magic, you know, especially when we're talking about perhaps a widow with children who is grieving the loss of her spouse or two parents together who are grieving the loss of their child, bringing the Christmas magic to life for their children when they are navigating such grief is so hard.

That's what we've heard from so many people over the years. And so we can help bring that magic not only to their children, but to them. There are gifts for mom or dad, for husband, for wife, because they are important too. And that is so important to us that we make sure everyone feels that love. So it's, we believe it's magic. while we're anonymous, we have over 26 years, have had recipients, track us down, track my mom down, track us down, and become a part of it on the giving side. They've become shoppers, rappers, deliverers, and to hear their stories of how they found their magic and their delivery

and what it meant to them, and to hear that the angel statue is still in their home, the believe ornament is still hung, the blanket is draped. over their couch, those are the most meaningful stories for us. And to have them be a part of it then on the volunteer side is a gift that my mom never even thought of when she first started this. And that's been really beautiful. So many unexpected blessings come when you venture out on such a powerful and impactful mission. Yes. And I will say also that just last year in 2025, On a smaller scale, we started shipping our deliveries to places in which we don't have boots on the ground volunteers. So it's pretty much the same experience, minus the beautiful decorations in the yard.

But we use our Christmas Commando's custom boxes. We pack all the gifts and ship them. And so when that box comes to their doorstep, it doesn't look like your typical FedEx UPS box. You can see the magic right from the outside because we receive nominations from across communities, across state. Because again, that grief is universal. So last year, we shipped to families in Montana, South Carolina, Virginia, Michigan. This year, we have recipients that will be receiving their magic in California, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Missouri. So our hope is that this continues for another 26 years and grows and can be delivered to all grieving families in our vast communities.

Well, you got more than 26 years on you, girl, if you're in your 30s. Well, 26 years since Christmas commandos just started. I'll say that. Yes, yes, you're right. I have about another decade, but that's okay. So where does the money come from to purchase all of this stuff? Great question, Judy. So when this first started on a smaller scale, my parents were blessed enough to be able to round up their friends and between that small circle of people pay for these gifts and bring this magic to life.

And over time, word just spread in our founding community of South Bend about Christmas commandos. So all of a sudden, checks just started coming in to my childhood home, addressed to Christmas commandos. Someone told someone and someone told someone. And my mom will say that there were years when she started to get down into the red from a Christmas commandos financial standpoint. And that day, a check with three zeros behind it would come in. And it would bring that right back up. And so a few years after Christmas Commando started, my mom started doing an annual mailer in the fall to those who donated in the past to simply say we're prepping, we're preparing. Thank you for your support in the past.

And if you want to be involved again this year, we would love you to be. there was never even a formal financial ask, but those letters would go out and the checks would come in. Then, over the 25 years of our organization, we never held any sort of formal fundraiser. Because remember, the anonymity. My mom was so, it was so important to her to keep that in place. Local news stations would reach out to her and say, we want to do a news story, and she would say, that's fine. but your camera has to be on my hands as they sit on my lap. You can't use my name.

I want to continue the anonymity of what makes us special. And so no formal fundraiser for 25 years of a nonprofit, which is amazing. And then last year in 2025, when she was retiring, she was passing off the torch to me, we said, Mom, you deserve recognition. You deserve to be celebrated. So last year, we held our first ever fundraiser event that was back in our founding community of South Bend. And it was in July.

What do you think it was called? Christmas in July. Yes. So we had our first ever fundraiser event, the silent auction, the live auction. We'd never done that before. And it was a huge success. The giving and the love of our founding community supporting us was unlike anything we could imagine.

And so we were so blessed last year to see that this could really continue to grow. So our hope is that we have a Christmas and July event every other year, both locally here in Denver, as well as back in South Bend, because our mission and our presence is still very much alive there. We have wonderful volunteers who have stepped into lead roles and lead our team back there. So I can lead our team here, but I certainly do manage all the logistics of all of our teams from here as well. So all of our funding is completely donor-based from the generosity of our community members. And anyone listening, if you feel a poll, you can make a donation directly on our website, Christmascommandos.org. We accept PayPal, Venmo, Apple Pay, credit card, all those things.

and that is what allows us to keep giving. And every dollar that comes into us goes directly to our recipients. Are you a 501c3 then? So the donations are tax. They are tax exempt. Yes, we have been a 501c3 since 1999. That was actually a gift that my dad gifted my mom one Christmas season to share with her that he had filed all the paperwork to make Chris's command as a true 501c3. It was a really

beautiful gift. Yeah, that just gives me goosebumps. What a beautiful thing. So tell me how your sisters are involved. You've got three sisters here in Denver. So tell me how they're involved. Yeah, so I have three older sisters. Two are also located in Castle Pines. And one is located up north in Broomfield. They are. are very much involved. One of my sisters in Castle Pines is a marketing guru. She does all of our marketing for us, our website, videos that we put together. She's wonderful in that space. She also has been able to connect us with some different wholesale vendors to get some of our items, those universal items at a wonderful wholesale cost so we can give more to our families. My other sister in Castle Pines is a

shopper, a rapper, a deliverer. I'm really a boots on the ground gal. And my oldest sister in Broomfield has really spearheaded the team up there. She has a wonderful team of volunteers that shop and deliver to families in Broomfield, Arvada, Longmont, Boulder. She's really been able to kind of take the reins in her community. And so all of us, we bring in nominations from our own circles. We all have children who go to schools who we hear of these devastating losses. And so within our own family, we nominate. And this is really personally, it feels in a way to be our family's legacy. And it's something that's been so important to our family and who we are. I really believe Christmas Commandoes was started by my mom when I was nine. I don't remember Christmas

without Christmas commandos. And I believe it and she really taught me the power of selflessness, the power of loving others, it's not just for our recipients, but the joy it gives us to give is enormous. And it's been a privilege to have this be a part of all of our lives for so long. Yeah, wow, that is amazing. So where do you guys get together to wrap gifts for, you know, maybe two to six people per household, 25 families and get it all done in one night and packaged up. Have you heard of the North Pole?

No kidding. It must be at the North Pole. I'm actually so glad you asked this, Judy, because we're recording this podcast in early October. And I'm still looking for space to host our rapping night locally in December. I have a couple options. I have a couple wonderful community members who have offered up their space. But generally, you're right, it has to be a fairly large space. And it is a space that we ask to have really secure access to for about four days in the beginning to mid-decent. a couple days for us to prep the day of our wrapping event and then a day or two to clean up afterwards. So that space rotates essentially every year. We get space donated by businesses, corporations who say we have this space. Perhaps we have an empty store in a strip mall that we own and it's vacant and it can be yours for these days. And we are so, so grateful that we have

always been so blessed to have that donated. And of course, if there is a rental fee or a utility fee, we are most certainly willing to cover that as well. We desire it to be in a fairly central location because we do have volunteers that come from the different parts of the greater Denver metro area. So ideally a Denver Tech Center centennial type location would be ideal. We have a wonderful option in Highlands Ranch this year. That might be what we move forward with, but just trying to keep our options open for perhaps a little bit more of a central location. But we find a space, again, that these owners or these businesses are graciously willing to provide to us and say, this can be yours for, you know, this short time period. When you say prep, does that mean that you

you use the old traditional wrapping paper with ribbon and bows or the new gift bag option or wow, is it a company? I love your questions. You're getting into the nitty gritty and this is what I love. So my mom will swear by Hobby Lobby wrapping paper. This is not a paid, this is not a paid ad, but if Hobby Lobby wants to sponsor us, please. She swears by it. So we go, her and I together, to Hobby Lobby, kind of right after Thanksgiving, and we load up on all the wrapping paper, the tags, all of it.

Well, we actually have custom Christmas Commando's tags that we put on the boxes. And we are tax exempt with all of our purchases, too. So we're tax exempt with Hobby Lobby and with Amazon and all these different pieces, which is wonderful. We have big boxes that we put everything in all the gifts into for delivery. So if you can kind of think of it as Tetris, actually wrapping in boxes instead of gift bags is ideal for us. Right. Because we can kind of box everything in. And then we use gift bags when needed.

But when we talk about a couple days before the wrapping night, myself, my lead volunteers, which are my family and my closest friends and those who've been involved, we go to the space. and we print just on a normal computer sheet paper of the family's name, the person who has passed, and all the surviving family members, we do that for each family. And then we tape it on the wall, just in order. And so when our shoppers come that night, they go to their family's spot. They drop off their gifts, and some of our shoppers stay and wrap. Some of them just like to shop, so they'll drop them, and we have other wrapping volunteers. peers that come. So when we say prep, we're prepping that space to be as organized as possible. We put tape, scissors, wrapping paper at each family slot. We pass out those universal gifts.

So when our rappers come, they have an ornament, they have a blanket, they have a gift, they have an angel statue, some other pieces, a beautiful book we give, a wind chime, that those are already at the station. So when people come, we can really respect. their time and just get into it and wrap. And I said that there's a lot of joy and there's a lot of laughter on rapping night, even though we are a mission base in loss. And over the years, it can certainly feel heavy to learn about these stories, to learn about these grieving families. But just last year, I was actually talking with a friend about that, that, oh, I had another nomination come through and gosh, this is starting to feel really heavy for me. And she said,

you know what, Claire, these families are experiencing grief and loss with or without you, with or without Christmas commandos. This is their reality. This is their story. What you're doing is bringing love and light into that grief. So they can either be with that grief on their own or they can be with that grief and have love and light delivered to them. And that is, is such the reminder that I needed. So at our rapping night, there's love, there's light, there's joy, there's laughter, there's Christmas music playing, because we know what we're about to bring to our families. We cater lunch or dinner, whatever time of the day it is.

We have refreshments, and it's a time to celebrate what we're all doing together. So it's a really beautiful day to be a part of. Do you know all many families you have for 2025 yet? Locally, we have approximately 17 back in Indiana. We approximately have about 30. Wow. Yeah. And I will also say that's for anyone who might be listening, who is maybe Midwest-based,

that includes both the South Bend, Indiana, Northern Indiana, Southern Michigan area. We also have a small team in Indianapolis. So we have families in Indianapolis. And then we have, I think, about. six or seven families that we are shipping out to this year. So total, we're looking at about 50 to 55 families that will receive Christmas commandos this year. And I will say in the past, my mom has had up to 115 families one year. We do everything we can to say yes to every nomination that comes through. There was a dip then when the pandemic hit.

because we couldn't come together and do that wrapping night like we were. And so that we kind of the number of recipients we saw dip a little bit around that, and we are starting to ramp back up. And hitting that 55 number is really wonderful for this year. Wow, that's amazing. Wow. Thank you. Yeah, that is great.

What would someone do who's listening or who has been told? about this, who wants to get involved in any number of ways. Like I haven't looked at your website, but are there places to check off to volunteer to shop or to wrap or to deliver or to how does all of that work? Yes, yes. You can go to our website at Christmascommandos.org. And there is a volunteer tab, a list of our volunteer roles, like you do, just listed off duty, a brief description of each of them, and then an volunteer inquiry form

that you can submit, share your information with us, exactly like you just said, check off what you're interested in doing, or how you want to get involved, and that will go directly to us, and we'll reach out to share more about that opportunity. Which brings me to another thought that I would love to share that while we are grateful to accept our monetary donations, to continue our gifting. We also are incredibly grateful for the donation of in-kind items or essentially experiences for our families. So we love to give Zoom memberships, movie theater tickets, spa gift cards, tickets to the nuggets, Avs, Rockies, restaurants.

Those are things that make the deliveries, the packages even more. rich and those experiences allow families to get out and make joy-filled memories together. We have gifted handle-making classes. We have gifted personal meet and greets with local athletes. If you are listening and you have a connection to a restaurant, to a movie theater, to an experience, to season tickets, we would be so, so grateful for you to reach out so we can talk more about that and for that generosity. That is, it's not just a physical gift that we love giving. It's those experiences and those memories that we can help give.

Wow. That is absolutely beautiful. Wow. You're quite a young woman there, Claire. I'm so grateful to have the opportunity to learn about your mission, your organization, how it started, how you're carrying it on. It's beautiful. Thank you. Thank you, Judy.

It's a true privilege and a pleasure to continue it on and to be able to share it with you today and with the community that's listening. I will say back where we started, everyone kind of knows who knows Christmas commandos. And when there's an ask, there's never a question. It's yes, how can we help? And we want to have that same presence here in Castle Rock, in Denver, up north. We want people to know who we are. are. We want people to nominate and refer to us. We want people to support us and help us continue to grow. So it's such a privilege to be able to share this today with you. Well, I'm glad you're able to. So thank you so

much. Thank you. Thanks so much for joining us for the Inspired Impact Podcast. To listen to past episodes, please visit the Inspired Impact Podcast.com. Thank you.