Group seeks families who didn’t pick up
Published 10:03 am Tuesday, December 21, 2010
SOUTH POINT — Sunday wasn’t a day of rest for those involved with the Secret Santa program. That’s when the Young Professionals spent the afternoon giving out warm clothes and toys to 616 Lawrence County children.
But there is still a little more work to be done.
There are 45 children that the Young Professionals need to make sure they get their gifts.
“Everyone we could get a hold of got their presents,” Casey Baker of the Young Professionals, said. “But we had a few disconnected phone numbers. Obviously we haven’t been able to tell them we have their presents. We tried the numbers several times, but weren’t able to get a hold of them.”
Those families who signed up for the Secret Santa program and did not get gifts Sunday at the distribution at Cross Community Church in South Point should contact the Secret Santa number at 304-972-7340.
All afternoon members of the Greater Chamber of Commerce’s group teamed up with parishioners from Cross Community to distribute presents for about five hours.
“We had an army there,” Baker said. “All day long kids (from the church) would run back and forth down the long hall to get gifts and run back to us.”
Those families who were not contacted have through Wednesday to call the Secret Santa phone line. If they do not, the Young Professionals will donate those gifts.
“We will probably take those gifts to the (Ironton) city mission,” Baker said. “They do something similar. That way we know they will be put to good use.”
This was the second year for the Young Professionals to coordinate the toy and clothes giveaway, raising about $12,000 in donations. Added to that were civic groups, churches, businesses, schools and individuals who sponsored children, buying clothes and toys.
Next on the agenda for the Young Professionals is getting ready for its first meeting of the New Year on Jan. 6. The organization meets each month on the first Thursday at 6 p.m. at the chamber office.
The organization is open to professionals up to the age of 39 years old.
“We will probably kick back in January and get back to normal business after we take a nice little two-week nap,” Baker said. “We will be brainstorming on projects and if someone has an idea, we will discuss it. We are always looking for new members.”