Thousands of children in Walker, Winston and Cullman counties will have presents to open on Christmas morning this year, thanks to a local nonprofit.
Kids Loving Kids, a nonprofit organization based in Walker County, has made giving gifts to children at Christmastime possible for the past nine years. This year was no exception, even in the middle of a pandemic.
Pam Dodd and her husband, Bobby, founded Kids Loving Kids with a simple mission — to teach children about the importance of giving back to those in need, hence the name Kids Loving Kids.
"It's so important to teach kids how to give back," Dodd said.
Each year Christmas giveaways are held and toys and clothes are distributed to children in need by Kids Loving Kids.
Alisha Beard and her husband, Zach, serve as executive directors of Kids Loving Kids, and Jason and Amy Canter worked with the Beards to organize this year's Christmas giveaway.
Dodd told the Daily Mountain Eagle this week that over 3,300 children were reached with this year's giveaway, and over 1,100 boxes of toys and/or clothing were distributed.
Giveaways were held this year in Cullman, Arley, Jasper, and Haleyville.
The Jasper giveaway was held at Raising Arrows in Jasper (at the Jasper Mall), and Raising Arrows volunteers had hot meals for everyone picking up items during the giveaway. Santa was also in attendance.
Dodd said there were up to six lanes of traffic when people lined up for the Jasper Kids Loving Kids giveaway, and families were overwhelmed with the outpouring of hospitality.
"We had so many people start weeping in their cars, saying, 'If we didn't know about you, our children would get nothing at Christmas,'" Dodd said.
Each year Kids Loving Kids boxes are placed throughout Walker County prior to the Christmas holidays for the general public to donate gently used or new toys and clothes for the giveaway. Volunteers then spend countless items sorting through the items and preparing them for distribution.
Kids Loving Kids is also made possible through a number of community sponsors, including the Walker Area Community Foundation (WACF).
"Without them (WACF), we would not have been able to have as many new toys this year as what we've had. We've never, ever had this many new toys," Dodd said.
Gifts were still being distributed to families at press time, and Dodd said it's not uncommon for gifts to be delivered on Christmas Eve as well.
"For the past seven years, we have delivered on Christmas Eve as people have reached out to us in the final hours," she said. "Because I don't have children, my husband and I do the ones on Christmas Eve."
Each year families in need can visit the Kids Loving Kids Facebook page to pre-register for their children to receive Christmas gifts. People can also call 205-717-7478 for assistance.
Children from birth to high school seniors are eligible for assistance through Kids Loving Kids, as well as those of all ages with special needs.
Dodd said Kids Loving Kids is also embarking on a new effort, the Birthday Box program. For $50 people can sponsor a box that includes three age-appropriate toys, birthday decor, icing, and cake mix, and the box will be given to children in need on their birthday.
A link to register for a birthday box is on the Kids Loving Kids Facebook page.
Items for the Kids Loving Kids effort can be donated throughout the year as well, and monetary donations are also accepted via PayPal (kidslovingkids1@gmail.com) or on Venmo by searching Kids Loving Kids-Nonprofit.
Dodd said she wants to thank the citizens, volunteers, and community sponsors who make each year's giveaway a success.
Community sponsors include Walker Area Community Foundation, Walmart, Central States Manufacturing, La Plaza Bonita, Worship Life-Jasper, Raising-Arrows-Jasper, Spirit Life Church of God-Cullman, Meek Baptist-Arley, Houston Church of God, Smith Lake Baptist, Carbon Hill Church of God, E4 Steel Truss, Rusken Packaging, Gina’s Variety Store, Outdoor Country, Bentley Rooks (Abe and Jennifer’s son), Gateway Foods, Culpepper Auto Sales, Ron’s Welding, Premier Bank, Eva Bank, The Storage Place, Debby Fitzgerald, Shelby Kilpatrick, Tran Laseter, Addison Beta Club, Joette Jones, Golden Flakes, Nathan, and Yancey Wiggins.
A statement on Facebook from Kids Loving Kids Executive Director Alisha Beard read, "I want to say thank you to all of the children and families who allowed us to serve you. We do appreciate the opportunity to be involved in such a special family holiday. It’s not always easy to ask for help, but this has been an extremely hard year."
She continued, "In Walker County, the coal mines are laid off. So many families have been affected by COVID. Not including the overall struggle for most families during Christmas time."We saw many grandparents caring for multiple grandchildren, foster families, families who had taken in other kids because parents couldn’t afford them. The situations are truly heartbreaking and we strive to help everyone." Source: https://mountaineagle.com/
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