Another annual Christmas Drive is all wrapped up at the Fannin County Children's Center. This year the center gave presents to 177 children and youth. It is a significant increase over the last several years when about 125 children have been served each holiday season.
"Fortunately, the Fannin County community has come through for us once again," said Sandy Barber, Executive Director of the Children's Center. "We are thrilled to report that donations for this effort have kept up with this increased need. We received more cash and in-kind donations this year so that our kids will receive plenty of toys, clothes, coats, shoes and more for Christmas."
"With the economic situation as it is, we were not surprised to find that more of the families we serve needed assistance with Christmas," continued Barber. "Our other fundraising efforts this year have been down over previous years, so we were not sure how this Christmas drive would turn out."
Trenton Boy Scout Clayton Kemp held a dance at the Leonard Junior High. Admission to the dance was a new toy for the center. A new stuffed animal was the price of entry to the Bavarian Grill Stein Club's Christmas party and the Bonham School of Dance collected toys as the admission price for their annual production of the Nutcracker.
The First National Bank of Trenton, Doris Shockley's State Farm, Pamela Sweet-Richardson Tax Assessor Collector Office and the Fannin County Courthouse continued their Christmas tradition of putting up teddy bear trees for the center. Yards of Fun and WalMart also helped in this way, thereby making it easy for community members to fulfill the wishes of many of the children.
The United Methodist Women of Leonard, Delta Gamma Kappa, Honey Grove Nursing Home, Texoma Marine Toys for Tots and the employees of GE Zenith Controls are just some of the other groups who contributed to this effort. Countless numbers of individuals and groups also gave money and items to this effort.
All of these gifts were given to the children and youth who are being served by CASA and the Children's Advocacy Center. Some of the children helped by this project are living in foster homes, away from family and friends. Other children have gone to live with grandparents or other relatives as a result of abuse or neglect. Many of these families struggle financially when one, two or even three children suddenly come to live with them. In other families, the discovery of sexual abuse in the home has meant the loss of family income when the offender leaves.
"We are so grateful to everyone who donated, shopped, sorted, wrapped, delivered and contributed to this effort" said Barber. "Their efforts made this holiday a much brighter one for our kids!"
For more information, call (903) 583-4339 or go to www.fanninccc.org.