As the holiday season approaches, organizations are improving lives within the community by focusing on the needs of the hungry, children and animals.
“Not having a lot of money to live on, this is absolutely a God send for me,” said Gail Morgan, a Community Market shopper. “It’s been a lifesaver for me.”
For the past couple of years, Morgan has shopped at the Community Market, an extension of the Food Bank of East Alabama that serves customers in need of assistance, because she fell upon difficult financial times.
Instead of receiving a box with pre-pricked items, Morgan can walk along the market aisles with shelves on either side loaded with cereal, condiments, sweets, vegetables, fruits and meats, and choose what she likes.
To qualify as a market shopper, customers must bring in a picture ID, a social security card, a utility bill to prove Lee County residence and a source of income. Once approved, a family of one to two receives 75 pounds of food, while a family of three or more receives 100 pounds of food.
The market would not be possible without the help of volunteers who strive to make a difference in the lives of its customers, like Morgan.
“Our mission is to feed those that are in need,” said Elsie Lott, Community Market coordinator. “There is no exchange of money at the Community Market. Pretty much everything we have comes from the Food Bank of East Alabama.”
The role of the Food Bank is to gather donated food to distribute among soup kitchens, food pantries, shelters and rehab centers in the hope of eliminating hunger in the area.
“Just here in Lee County our food insecurity rate is 17.3 percent, so that’s over 22,000 people,” said Martha Henk, executive director at the Food Bank. “We have a big task ahead of us, but that’s what we’re working to do is feed hungry folks.”
With the holiday season getting closer, more people are getting into the spirit of giving and helping to make those in need have a better Christmas.
“It isn’t necessarily that there are more people that are hungry at holiday time, but those of us who are going to sit down to a… nice Christmas meal, we really want to extend that blessing to other folks as well,” Henk said.
As children make their wish lists for Santa Claus, the reminder that not every child is blessed with presents at Christmas doesn’t go unnoticed thanks to the Auburn Police and Fire departments’ commitment to Toys for Tots.
“We get so busy at this time of year, everybody gets caught up in their own thing,” said Auburn Police Capt. Tom Stofer. “They forget there are a whole lot of needy people out there.”
Since the foundation began in 1947, its goal has been to bring joy to underprivileged children nation-wide by distributing toys at Christmas time.
“I just hate the thought of a child waking up on Christmas morning and not having a gift to unwrap,” Stofer said.
As a single parent, Debra Hoyett, organizer of the Auburn Toys for Tots program, can relate to the pressure of making sure children have presents under the tree.
“We all have hard times,” Hoyett said. “I understand when you’re trying to work two jobs, and you have two kids, and you want to give them Christmas, and it’s hard, and you just can’t find the money for it.”
In Auburn, each registered child with the foundation will receive 10 toys if donations allow. Donation bins are placed at local fire stations and Uncle Bob’s Self Storage in the hope the community will get involved in the giving spirit.
For Hoyett, picturing the children’s faces as they open the presents on Christmas morning is what makes the foundation special.
“Getting ready to bag the toys and knowing that the kids… that they are going to have Christmas, to me, is the most enjoyed part,” Hoyett said.
As a member of the Air Force, Stofer would help distribute toys and took pleasure in knowing the children believed the presents were coming from Santa Claus.
“If you ever get a chance to see a child open these gifts on Christmas day… it’s a special treat,” Stofer said.
The parents who participate are gracious for what the community, Police Department, Fire Department, volunteers and the foundation do to help make their child happy on Christmas morning.
“They really are thankful that we have this program,” Hoyett said.
Stofer hopes to make the holiday memorable for children who, without the foundation, would go without presents during Christmas and encourages the community to give to someone less fortunate.
“If God has blessed you and your family, why not give back?” Stofer said. “The difference you can make in someone’s life is astronomical.”
With the amount of organizations improving the lives of people within the community, the needs of animals can often be overlooked, but the Lee County Humane Society is hoping that will change.
“Anyone who has ever had a pet or loved a pet at anytime in their lives can probably understand how important that bond is,” said Stacee Peer, director of public relations at the shelter.
The society shelters 200 animals per week, but only 1,000 are adopted each year. During the colder months space isn’t a problem, but when summer starts there are far more dogs and cats than kennels.
Even though an animal may be healthy and adoptable, the ones that do not find a home will be euthanized because of overpopulation and a lack of resources at the shelter.
Peer believes it is important to be mindful of animals because they cannot speak for themselves.
Monetary donations to the shelter are the most beneficial way to help animals in need. The foster program, where an animal is cared for at a volunteer’s home, is another way to get involved and save the lives of shelter animals.
“I think it’s definitely something meaningful that when people make a donation to their organization it really makes a difference,” Peer said.
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