Christmas Spirit Alive In Mayfield

Following a week long collection effort, a group of nine volunteers from the area delivered a large U-Haul truck load, two pickups and a trailer full of supplies, food, toys and clothes to Mayfield, Kentucky on Monday.

As we were collecting items at the Greatest Generation Park in Silvertown, a man pulled up with toys and food items in his pickup. He began to unload the truck while his daughter climbed down from her car seat, she looked to be between 3 and 4 years old. The little girl came over to the U-Haul with a teddy bear in her arms, lookup at me, then kissed the teddy bear and handed it to me. All I could do was stand there as she climbed back into the truck with a big smile on her little face, her dad told me that it was her teddy bear and that she had decided to give it to someone in Kentucky on her own.

After delivering everything except some fruit and vegetables that was donated by vendors at the Atlanta Farmers Market, we went to Catalyst of Mayfield, another distribution center, to drop off those items. While there we met a family picking up some clothes. Jinger Roberts of Jinger's Showcase in northside had put together 26 Christmas stockings Sunday night with candy, some small toys and a card with a $100 bill inside for children impacted by the tornado. We gave the two little girls a stocking each as they sat in the back of the pickup. A couple of minutes later, the door flew open and one of the girls shouted, "Did you mean to give me a hundred dollars?" The girls climbed out of the truck and began to jump up and down, it was obvious that neither of them had ever had that much money of their own. The parents, the girls and everyone standing around were drying tears as the girls just stared at the money.

A very special thank you to all the churches and hundreds of local residents that made it possible to bring a little hope to an area devastated by the worst tornado in Kentucky history. 

To Jinger Roberts, her family and staff at Jinger's Showcase for the inspiration to make the effort so successful, Shane Phillips at Adams-Harvey Realty for getting the truck from U-Haul, McLeroy Construction in Zebulon for funding the gas needed to make the trip and everyone that cared enough to give.

Thank you!