2022 Richmond Christmas Mother advocates for those in need and those who 'take care of our community'

The months since she was announced as the 2022 Richmond Christmas Mother have been an eye-opening experience for Terrell Luck Harrigan.

“I have just been amazed at what the Richmond Christmas Mother Fund does,” Harrigan said of the holiday effort that, through donations from Times-Dispatch readers and advertisers, provides food and gifts for children and families through partnerships with The Salvation Army, the Community Foundation and Feed More.

“They’re just constantly trying to support and take care of our community,” she said of the program’s partners that she’s come to know more about. “Until you get into an organization, you kind of hear about it, but you don’t realize the amount of devotion it takes to make this happen.”

Harrigan’s role begins in earnest now as the holidays approach. She’s following in the footsteps of her late mother, True Farr Luck, who served as Christmas Mother in 2006.

“She just loved it,” Harrigan said. “That was a really special Christmas for her. I know it’ll be the same for us.”

In addition to the usual Christmas Mother role of leading the effort to raise money, encourage volunteers and inspire community generosity during the holiday season, Harrigan is broadening the approach by also advancing the cause of children’s mental health.

With input from nonprofits that support children’s mental health, she created a brochure to distribute with tips for parents and caregivers to help identify signs of children experiencing anxiety, depression or some other mental health challenge. The flyers will include contact information for local agencies providing emergency care for children in crisis.

“Children’s mental health has always been a big concern for me,” she said, “but COVID really ripped the Band-Aid off, and I think it’s at a crisis level now. I wanted to figure out what I could do to help our community become more aware.”

Harrigan said she was raised in a family that stressed the importance of giving back to the community; “to whom much is given,” she said, “much is expected.” Joining the board of the Children’s Museum of Richmond kick-started her nonprofit work as an adult.

She’s served on various boards of organizations in the fields of arts, education and health care, including at VCU’s Massey Cancer Center, where she has a personal connection.

Harrigan was diagnosed with breast cancer in August 2007 and was treated at Massey. Two months later, her mother was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer, after previously surviving breast cancer.

The family created the $1.5 million Harrigan, Haw and Luck Families Chair in Cancer Research at Massey.

“That was a journey we both went through,” she said. “We were close before, and we were close from that. It just helps you realize that you deal with what you’ve got to deal with and do the best you can.”

She’s been living that approach — do the best you can with what you’ve got — since childhood when she struggled through school with what she found out later were learning disabilities. She had to work hard to succeed, meaning working hard became second nature to her later in life.

Harrigan said it’s important to recognize that children who have learning disabilities are “totally capable of doing the work, they just learn differently.

“If you realize every child can learn differently and be supportive of their learning style, they’re going to feel confident and do the work,” she said.

The silver lining of such experiences is that there are often “gifts” embedded in the struggle. In her case, she had a love and a talent for art, which shaped her life as she earned two degrees in interior design and worked as a professional interior designer for years.

She brings all of that to her role as Christmas Mother, along with a slight aversion to the spotlight, though she fully understands that’s part of the deal.

“I like to get things done, and I like to be involved in things that make a difference,” she said. “I don’t like being the center of attention, but if that’s part of it to be able to do this ... then you just do what you need to do.”

Harrigan and her husband, Elliott, have three daughters: True, an artist, is married to Jay Collier, and is expecting the Harrigan’s first grandchild next year; Elise, who works for a nonprofit environmental organization, is married to Andrew Keenan; and Ravenel, a labor and delivery nurse.

“The big thing is I just want people to realize how fortunate we are to have these great organizations supporting children at Christmastime,” Harrigan said.

She appreciates the community that supports the fund and the people with the various partner organizations “who are out there making it happen.

“If I can do something like this to help them, I’m glad to,” Harrigan said. “They’re doing the hard work.”

The annual Richmond Christmas Mother Fund is organized by the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Its origins began in 1935, evolving from the Richmond News Leader’s Empty Stocking Fund and the Richmond Times-Dispatch’s Good Fellow Club.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch sponsors the program and absorbs nearly all its administrative costs.

“The Richmond Christmas Mother has been helping underprivileged families since 1935,” said Kelly Till, president and publisher of The Times-Dispatch. “We are thankful for all of our donors who help us bring joy to families during the holiday season. It has been an absolute pleasure to work with our 2022 Christmas Mother, Terrell Luck [Harrigan]. Her focus, level of care and ability to help us reach the right organizations to offer our support has been priceless.”

The Richmond Christmas Mother program receives contributions from RTD readers and advertisers. Last year, the program collected more than $323,000 in donations, thanks to efforts of 2021 Richmond Christmas Mother Petra Glover.

To donate to the Richmond Christmas Mother Fund, visit www.richmond.com/christmas-mother/donate. Contributions may be sent by mail to Richmond Christmas Mother Fund, P.O. Box 25864, Richmond, VA 23260. Checks should be made payable to Richmond Christmas Mother Fund.