Local churches and other organizations are performing acts of service to the public this Christmas season, and are welcoming volunteers and donations.

ANGEL TREE

Deep Creek Missionary Baptist Church is continuing its annual tradition of setting up an angel tree to help needy families in the county receive Christmas gifts and dinner.

Each year, the church sets the tree in its foyer and gathers the names of families in the community who need an extra special Christmas. Some names come from a school ssocial worker, but the names are kept confidential, according to congregation member and co-organizer Jennifer Tarlton.

Church members select a card off the tree and shop for the child. Details provided include the child’s age, gender, favorite color and interests, as well as race and ethnicity so that shoppers can find dolls or other toys the same as the child’s race, according to Tarlton.

Shoppers have until Dec. 20 to return with the Christmas goodies, which, along with a ham or turkey, are delivered to or picked up by the families.

Tarlton said it’s worth the work each year to see how happy the children are.

“The look on their face,” Tarlton said. “They had no clue because nobody they knew could afford to buy those for them.”

Tarlton said that the church’s pastor, the Rev. Mark Perco, challenged every church in the county to get a donation box and asks every family in the congregation to purchase a gift.

“He said if every family bought one toy and put it in, it would fill up,” Tarlton said.

So far, three other churches have elected to participate.

To learn more about the program, contact Jennifer Tarlton at 704-694-3115.

TOYS FOR TOTS

With just over three weeks left until Christmas, Toys for Tots organizer Vancine Sturdivant said the group is still looking for toys.

Sturdivant said that there is a “desperate need” for toys for boys and girls from ages 9-14.

Nearly all toys are accepted with very few exceptions. Only new and unwrapped toys should be dropped off.

“We do not accept guns, knives and things of that nature that provoke violence,” Sturdivant said.

This year, the toy campaign is being held in honor of Vancine’s late husband, William L. “Gumby” Sturdivant.

“Everything we do is in his memory,” said Tarlton, also a co-organizer of Toys for Tots. “We will keep him alive through this.”

Drop off boxes are located across Anson County and at the new Toys for Tots center, located at Harvest Ministries, Inc. behind Pizza Hut and McDonald’s off of U.S. 74 in Wadesboro.

Toy and monetary donations are accepted. Toys can be dropped off at any of the drop-off locations and checks can be made payable to Toys for Tots and delivered to Sturdivant or Tarlton. Both women will also pick up donations.

Call Tarlton at 704-694-3115 or Sturdivant at 704-848-4412 for more information.

SHOP WITH A COP

Each year, officers with the Wadesboro Police Department take children shopping for clothes and toys.

Children are selected from a pool of applicants, and the department selects children from preschool to 12 years old based on need. Money raised from fundraisers and individual donations is used to purchase gift cards from Walmart, and each child receives a card carried by his or her assigned officer.

The officers take the children to lunch at a local restaurant before going to Walmart, where children are assigned a store associate to help answer questions and tally their costs as they shop, letting them know how much they have left to spend.

Donations are accepted at any time.

“We even have people who see us at Walmart and cut us checks and it goes to next year’s shop,” Sgt. Gerald Cannon said.

Checks can be made to the Town of Wadesboro and marked for Shop with a Cop, Cannon said. They can be dropped off with the department dispatcher.

Reach reporter Imari Scarbrough at 704-994-5471 and follow her on Twitter @ImariScarbrough.

File photo During last year’s Shop with a Cop, Wadesboro Police Chief Chief Thedis Spencer helped one girl decide which pink accessories to pair with her pink outfit.
https://ansonrecord.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_Shop-with-a-Cop-4.jpgFile photo During last year’s Shop with a Cop, Wadesboro Police Chief Chief Thedis Spencer helped one girl decide which pink accessories to pair with her pink outfit.

By Imari Scarbrough

iscarbrough@civitasmedia.com