More than 2,000 toys and gift items were donated for the gift giveaway according to Jennifer and Jimmy Harvey, directors of the Loaves and Fishes food pantry at The Ridge Church, Pea Ridge.
"We lost count and stopped counting after we knew we had enough," Jennifer said, crediting the generosity of donors who provided the gifts.
The parents get to pick a small, medium and large gift as well as three or four stocking stuffers, Jennifer said. The presents are then gift-wrapped before going home with the parents. They also get a turkey, pie and rolls for their Christmas dinner.
"We make sure they weren't with Caring and Sharing or Angel Tree," she said, explaining that some of the children "slip through the cracks."
"It's been amazing!"
"We have seven families coming through every 30 minutes," she said, adding that families have come not only from the northeast Arkansas area, but also from McDonald County, Mo., and nearby Oklahoma.
"If anybody would ever like to donate to a good organization -- Loaves and Fishes food pantry," she said. "We give clothing also."
Abby Smith, the Harvey's daughter, said, "It's been really good. It's impacted me in more ways than one. It's more of a blessing for me to get to give to others than I think it is for the people who come through to receive."
Smith, who said she's donated time and service all of her life, said she served after Hurricane Harvey and that was "life changing."
"If you serve, then God will bless you more than you can imagine," Smith said.
David Smith, Abby's husband, said he did not grow up serving or donating and this experience has greatly influenced him.
"Being able to go into all this is like a whole other word -- being able to give toys and things people can't afford to give their children," he said.
"Being a part of this family has really brought me out of my comfort zone," he said explaining that he was a homebody and selfish before learning to serve.
"It helps me out a lot," Linda Poe said. "I am really thankful for this."
"I don't know exactly what I would have done," she said explaining that she had a little money, but not enough to get her two children the gifts they wanted.
Pastor David Austin said, "We're just grateful we get to be the hands and feet of Jesus and be an extension of Him. The only reason we do this is not for any accolades or pats on the back but we do it simply so we can share the love of Christ."
"We know this has been a difficult season for a lot of families over the past few years ... this is for our community... we get to love on our community and that's important," he said.
TIMES photograph by Annette Beard
Hundreds of children will have Christmas gifts and dinner they would not have otherwise had thanks to the generosity of members of The Ridge Church and donors. Gifts were distributed Saturday, Dec. 17, 2022. For more photographs, go to the PRT gallery at https://tnebc.nwaonline.com/photos/.
TIMES photograph by Annette Beard
Hundreds of children will have Christmas gifts and dinner they would not have otherwise had thanks to the generosity of members of The Ridge Church and donors. Gifts were distributed Saturday, Dec. 17, 2022. For more photographs, go to the PRT gallery at https://tnebc.nwaonline.com/photos/.