By Paige Nash
Each year the Minden Civitan Club along with the Young Women’s Service Club (YWSC) spend weeks collecting new gifts and garnering donations for children in the parish who may have otherwise spent the Christmas season without.
“YWSC is honored to partner with the Minden Civitan’s each year to provide Christmas gifts to those less fortunate,” said YWSC Vice-President Jessica Marks Haymon.
Earlier this month members of the YWSC spent their Friday evening outside of the local Walmart collecting gifts and donations from shoppers. In a few short hours, the effort brought in $423, to be added to the thousands the Civitans collected over the year, along with two shopping carts filled to the brim with toys for all ages.
“We then work with the Civitans in sorting the toys collected by age group and household and assisting in shopping for additional items needed with the monetary donations received,” continued Haymon. “We have been joining forces with them for the last several years and each year, our collection goal continues to grow. We’re so thankful and honored to be included in this yearly fundraiser and giving back to our community continually.”
After the toys were finished sorting earlier this week, December 18, the Civitans and YWSC turned things over to the local law enforcement. They get to join in on the holiday spirit by distributing these gifts. The Minden Police Department handles the families within the city limits, while the Webster Parish Sheriff’s Office gets to play Santa to the families outside the city limits right in time for Christmas.
Minden Police Department Chief Jared McIver was happy to play a part in delivering the gifts. He stated that the day shift was busy distributing the toys all day yesterday, December 20, with the evening shift picking up and finishing the deliveries that night.
He said, “They worked hard delivering and talked about it all day, about how happy people were when they showed up – just seeing those families’ smiling faces when they walked up to their front door with bags of gifts.”
“We are so blessed to have this group in our community and are very appreciative of the work they do,” said Sheriff Jason Parker. “We are always happy to help and my deputies and I look forward to it every year.”
Among the collaboration of these four entities along with community members who contributed, many children across Webster will wake up with plenty of Christmas gifts this holiday season.
