More than 200 children at F.S. Ervin Elementary in Pine Hill got the joy of gifts, food and fun on Dec. 18 as part of an annual Christmas giveaway day sponsored by local the Presbyterian Home for Children and M.I.N.D. Mentoring in New Dimensions.
Living River, a Presbyterian camp retreat in Central Alabama, joined the fun this year and also gave away gifts to the children in grades pre-K through six.
Principal Florence Wiggins called it a “wonderful day,” saying they appreciate how the agencies came together to ensure the children felt loved at the Christmas holidays.
“We appreciate how you give the students encouragement and refreshments and let them know you care about them at the holiday season,” Wiggins said, pointing out how the Presbyterian Home has come to F.S. Ervin most holidays with gifts, not just Christmas, for the last several years. “It’s important we make sure every child has something special at the holiday season.”
Living River, which is affiliated with the Presbyterian U.S.A. church, has hosted many F.S. Ervin students at their away camp near Montevallo for the last two summers and came for the Christmas giveaway to continue building relationships with those students and new ones interested in attending.
The Christmas party included a visit with Santa and food provided by Leona’s Kitchen of Pine Hill in their new food truck. M.I.N.D. founder Brooks Thomas, who owns Leona’s Kitchen with his mom, made enough fried fish and shrimp for the 200 children and the school’s staff.
Doug Marshall, President of the Presbyterian Home for Children, partnered the Home with MIND as a mission outreach for the nonprofit that is based in Talladega. “Missional theology is when you see God at work in the world and you go join that work. That is exactly what we are doing in Pine Hill with M.I.N.D. and its Executive Director Brooks Thomas as we continue to bring the love of Christ in real ways to these precious children.”
The Presbyterian Home started a weekly weekend backpack food giveaway program for 40 needy children at F.S. Ervin in September that sends a brown bag of food home to supplement those children who often get hungry when not at school for the two staple meals offered, breakfast and lunch.
The bags include two meals along with shelf stable milk, fruit cups and granola bars that ensure they have healthy meals and snacks while away from school on the weekends. The program has been funded with donations from First Presbyterian Huntsville and the Newton Family Foundation in Birmingham that has origins in Wilcox County.
Wiggins said the kids love the backpack program so much they ask about it during the week before getting the bags on Fridays.
“We have a lot of students who need something to eat on the weekends,” Wiggins said. “Not every child has what they need to eat sometimes. But what they need is inside that bag.”
