As the Christmas holiday draws closer, the Salvation Army and The Free Press are making sure hundreds of children in need will have gifts on the 25th.
The 21st annual Operation Community Christmas will be held Wednesday, with thousands of donated toys in place to give away at the Salvation Army tomorrow and Thursday.
Salvation Army Captain Curtis Kratz said he’s ready to assist the participants.
“The objective of this event is to help kids and families in need have a decent Christmas,” Kratz said. “We want everyone to have a great holiday. Volunteers will go with a client, leading them to tables, and providing them with two or three gifts, depending on how many we have. It will be like they’re shopping at a department store for Christmas gifts.”
Those receiving gifts already have times set up to look for presents for their children, but Kratz said those who are in need but haven’t applied can still receive toys.
“We understand there are some parents who may have lost their jobs or didn’t have the information back then,” Kratz said. “They can call or come to the Salvation Army and fill out an application. We should have some extra toys for them.”
Free Press Advertising Sales Manager Billy Moore said the partnership is helpful in assisting the community.
“The newspaper helps spread the word, and promotes with advertisements and stories about the good works the Salvation Army is doing distributing toys for needy families,” Moore said.
Moore said he has been to the event in years past and has been pleased with the results.
“The gym is always full of toys for the children,” Moore said. “It’s really amazing to see the smiles on the parents’ faces when they come by to the Salvation Army and get gifts for their children.”
Henry Trotter, who has volunteered during the event, said the Salvation Army is doing a great job assisting people through tough times.
“The economy is terrible and there are a lot of people who need help,” Trotter said. “Nobody does it like the Salvation Army, and they don’t mind helping out people who really need it. We have toys for kids from 0 to 13, and it feels good to know we’ve brought smiles to these kids. Some of them don’t even have a tree in the house, but they’ll at least have presents.”
Trotter said there will also be bags of food for the families — enough for a great Christmas dinner.
“We have more than 500 bags of food here and have shipped out more than 400 to another county,” Trotter said.
Kratz said the event is all about the children.
“We’re all about giving, bringing smiles to the children and providing them hope,” Kratz said. “It’s sad to meet a child who’s 5 or 6 saying ‘I’m not going to see Santa this year.’ This is not about us; it’s about helping these kids.”
Junious Smith III can be reached at 252-559-1077 and Junious.Smith@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JuniousSmithIII.
Want to donate toys to the event? Contact Tomeka Carr or Cpt. Sara Kratz at 252-523-5175 or drop donations off at the Salvation Army at 2110 N. Queen St.