4th Christmas Giveaway a success
Christmas will be a bit brighter for 400 Jefferson County families thanks to Bill and Sharri Jones of Sissy’s Log Cabin and First Ward Living Grace Food Pantry.
About 90,000 pounds of food and 560 toys were distributed during the Fourth Annual Christmas Giveaway held on Sunday afternoon. The event took place at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff football stadium parking lot.
The atmosphere was festive as volunteers — some wearing Christmas hats, one dressed as Santa, and one dressed as an elf — accentuated the holiday-oriented outreach. The air was filled with a vast array of music featuring Darnell Cann Ward, who served as a deejay, and a live concert of Christmas favorites performed by Angelica Glass.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department and Pine Bluff Police Department assisted in helping drivers line up in an organized manner and ride through as if they were in a parade. Families drove through and stopped at various stations as volunteers loaded their vehicles with bags of food, beverages, paper towels, toilet paper, light bulbs, laundry detergent and household cleaning items. Toys were provided at the last station if a child or children were present in the vehicle.
Bill Jones expressed how pleased he was with the overall event.
“We are so glad that it all worked out. Everyone acted just fantastically. The spirit of Christmas was definitely in the air,” Jones said. “The National Guard has been out here. We’ve had the Sheriff’s Department. We’ve had the Shriner’s … and that’s half the fun of all this — the community
involvement and the volunteerism.”
Jones said the highlight of the entire day was when a group from Altheimer drove through with five little boys in the back of the vehicle. The faces of the boys began to light up as they were given basketballs and footballs.
“Handing those toys to those kids, they were just amazed,” Jones said.
He credited Debra Allen, executive director of First Ward Living Grace Food Pantry, with the idea of doing a drive through-style giveaway.
“Debra is instrumental in this whole thing and that’s why we at Sissy’s Log Cabin have gotten to be so involved in it because she can take two nickels and turn them into 1,000 nickels,” Jones said. “She goes a long way with it. This is not inexpensive to do so we need all of the volunteerism, and we need all of the contributions that we can get.”
He encouraged those who want to support to visit the website, www.firstwardlivinggrace.com, to donate.
“We know that all of this could not happen if it was not on the heart of Debra Strickland Allen,” said La’Tonyalyn White, a member of the “white coats,” who serve as ambassadors of the food pantry.
Prior to the start of the Christmas Giveaway, White emphasized the words “spends” and “sponsors,” telling the group that both words start and end with the letter “s.”
“Now all of you know that Debra spends money to make this happen. But most of all we want you to know that you can help her by becoming sponsors. So at any time you can feel free to open up your pockets,” White said.
“On behalf of the white coats, that Debra implemented, we appreciate the role that she has given us to perform. This is not a society. It’s not a show or shine. But WHITE COATS is an acronym that was developed for impact with what Debra desires to do. It represents Workers Helping Implement the Extending of Courtesy Outward by Assisting Together through Service,” White said.
R.J. England, who was dressed as Santa, helped pass out toys. He will begin serving as potentate (director) of the South Arkansas Shriners in January.
“We’re all into this — anything for the children,” England said.
Allen expressed her gratitude of the vast amount of support received. She said that she has been preparing for Sunday’s event for four to five months.
“I feel blessed anytime I can give back to the community, my hometown,” Allen said. “I just want to thank my supporters. I couldn’t do it without them. There’s no way that I can do it.”
She mentioned Arkansas Food Bank, Sissy’s Log Cabin, Matthews Lives Matter, Summit Community Care and Dr. Margarette Williams, just to name a few. Other sponsors included Tyson Foods, Super 1 Foods, Walmart, Entergy, Shriners, Paradise Funeral Home, Abraham and Linda Carpenter, Carpenter’s Produce, Jackie Carpenter, Matthews Lives Matter, Angela Fair, The Wilkins Family, Dr. T.J. Walker, The Stephens Group, Bethany Chapel, Leola Simmons and Family, The Stepps Family, Alderman Ivan Whitfield, Booker Franklin and Crew, the Age Family, Erica Kirkland, Sharon Alexander and Helping Hands for the Community.
“And I just thank God for the people that believe in me. If they didn’t believe in me, they wouldn’t be out here, and I wouldn’t have all of these toys and all of these groceries,” Allen said.