Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 20, 1994 TAG: 9401200372
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: NANCY BELL STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Swell stuff. Caring and sharing. However you describe it, many Roanoke Valley residents became unknown heroes during the holiday season. They collected, wrapped, bagged and delivered food, clothes and other goodies to those less fortunate. Some gave money, others sang songs and threw parties to make the holidays a little more cheerful.
Some gave up exchanging gifts and holding parties for themselves in order to help others.
Individually or in groups, Roanoke Valley residents made a variety of sacrifices for others.
\ Cub Scout Pack 224, for example, forfeited a Christmas party to provide gifts for children whose names appeared on a Salvation Army angel tree. Scouts wrapped the gifts, sang Christmas songs and enjoyed refreshments.
"The project was especially meaningful to the boys because many of them bought gifts for angels of their own age," wrote Suzanne Sanford, mother of one of the Scouts.
\ The Roanoke Business and Professional Women's Club purchased approximately $100 worth of groceries for residents of the Samaritan Inn on Salem Avenue.
"Our members voted to donate to the Samaritan Inn based upon [The Roanoke Time & World-News'] account of the Inn's needs and the service it provides the community," wrote Patricia Quillen, treasurer.
"This project involved our members working together as a group, and we gained as much from the fellowship and spirit of helping others - if not more than we were able to give," Quillen said.
The 90 residents and 40 staff members of The Park, Oak Grove, a retirement community, provided Christmas goodies for two single-parent families. Large boxes of staples and nutritious food were collected for each family along with wrapped presents, toys and clothing for each child and each of the single mothers.
Roanoke College Junior Amy Roberson stuffed 136 Christmas stockings for needy children in Roanoke. The stockings were distributed to groups and individuals, stuffed, and then delivered to Roanoke's Department of Social Services where parents selected stockings for their children.
\ Virginia Skyline Girl Scouts in troops from Roanoke, Vinton, Salem, Botetourt and Craig donated 150 toy bears to organizations working with troubled or needy children.
\ The General Electric Employees Christmas Basket Program provided a record 300, 90-pound food and household supply boxes to the needy. G.E. employees have been sponsoring this program for 31 years.
\ The General Electric Employees of the IUE Local 161 Retirees Council have been contributing clothing, toilet articles, personal gifts and other items to Catawba Hospital's "Operation Santa Claus" since 1987. This year, a truckload of gifts was collected and a $100 cash donation was made to the program.
More than 50 individuals with disabilities attended the annual Blue Ridge Independent Living Center Christmas party. Becky Proctor, minister of music and associate pastor of Rosalind Hills Baptist Church, led the music. The Ogden Center Senior Citizens All-Kitchen Band also performed.
Instead of exchanging gifts among themselves, first- and second-grade students at Penn Forest Elementary School collected dog and cat food, litter, cleaning supplies, dog treats, chew toys and other items for the SPCA.
\ West Salem Elementary School P.A.L.S. (Partnership Activate Learning with Seniors) visited the Richfield Retirement Community with handmade ornaments and decorated an 8-foot Christmas tree.
Later, the school's Fifth Grade Chorus presented a Christmas music program at the Richfield chapel.
\ The Roanoke City Department of Social Services reports that 434 disadvantaged children and 46 families were given food baskets and gifts by a number of businesses, churches and organizations this Christmas.
\ Roanoke City employees sponsored 100 foster care children and donated more than 24 boxes of canned goods to the agency's emergency food pantry.
\ The Roanoke Jaycees, through their Cherub Tree Project at Tanglewood Mall, provided gifts for 303 children.
\ The Gold Wing Road Riders Association, Chapter K, held a program for 34 children. The 3- and 4-year-olds had refreshments and received gifts of clothing and toys from Santa. The group has provided Christmas goodies for different groups since 1988.
\ The True Colors Crew, an adolescent life skills group sponsored by the Roanoke City Court Service Unit, took children from the Transitional Living Center to the Art Venture exhibits offered by the Art Museum of Western Virginia at the Center in the Square .
\ Monterey Elementary School students in the first through fifth grades filled 30 Red Cross gift boxes and donated toys and clothing at Christmas. Kindergartners filled 45 boxes and wrote experience stories about giving, sharing and caring for others.
\ Oak Grove Elementary students, in cooperation with the Roanoke City Department of Social Services, adopted 24 children for the holidays, one child for each class. Students contributed clothes, toys, games, sports equipment and many other items. Oak Grove also collected canned food, which was distributed by the Cave Springs Lions Club to 163 needy families.
\ Community Christmas Store volunteers raised more than $10,000 to create a "store" for needy families. Through cash donations and gifts of new goods, the store was stocked with clothing, gifts, household items, toys and food. Each family shopped using points.
The Community Christmas Store served 177 families, including 28 infants, 107 children ages 2-6, 117 children ages 7-12 and 64 teens. In addition, the store served 12 senior citizens and 25 disabled adults. More than 200 volunteers participated.
\ The Star City Classic Thunderbird Club sent Christmas cards and a gift of $50 to Jason Grimm, a 17-year-old leukemia victim, to celebrate his early graduation from high school. The club also donated $287 to the Good Neighbors Fund and $287 to the Roanoke Valley Therapeutic Riding Program, a non-profit physical fitness program for the disabled.
\ The Botetourt County Department of Social Services' annual Christmas Bonanza served 100 families this year. Volunteers from the community prepared and distributed food baskets that included turkeys or baking hens, vegetables, fruit, crackers, dressing, soup, gelatin, instant pudding, bread and drinks. Some Christmas shopping trips were also provided.
The eight chapters of the Roanoke Valley Council of Beta Sigma Phi organized several projects for others, collected a carload of school supplies and food for the West End Center and filled several hundred Salvation Army Christmas stockings.
\ The Roanoke Kroger Distribution Center Employee Advisory Committee set up collection bins for non-perishable foods and collected 1,577 pounds in Roanoke and Salem and the counties of Franklin, Montgomery, Botetourt and Roanoke. The food was distributed to Heavenly Manna, White's Memorial Methodist Church food pantry; Botetourt Department of Social Services; Roanoke City Rescue Mission; and the Salem Food Pantry.
The committee also spent $1,000 on a Christmas dinner and gifts for a mother and her four children. Kroger employees delivered six large deli trays to the rescue mission.
For the past 15 years, Mountain View Elementary School's S.C.A. has adopted the residents of Hollins Manor for Christmas. Students donated items for a "Christmas Eve Pig-Out" for the handicapped adults at Hollins Manor. Boxes were filled with chips, candy, home-baked goods and fruit. Stuffed animals, games, puzzles, paint sets, coloring books and crayons were also donated.
Students also sponsored a Christmas wishing well in the cafeteria and collected $170 for six names plucked from Valley View Mall's Angel Tree.
\ Literacy Volunteers of America, Roanoke Valley, held two holiday book parties - one at the Presbyterian Community Center and the other at Hunt Manor - for about 60 children.
"For those of us who read a lot, it's difficult to realize that there are homes in the Roanoke Valley that do not have books or dictionaries," wrote Coordinator Nancy Francisco.
The six members of the Lauderdale 4-H Club wrapped and delivered a washcloth, soap, mouth wash and a candy cane and sang Christmas carols for the 34 residents of Hotel Botetourt, an adult care facility.
Debbie Mooty's Salem 4-H Club held a holiday pet food drive for the Salem Animal Shelter and also visited Snyder Nursing Home for caroling. Severe weather prevented the group from caroling on horseback, an annual tradition.
\ Trinity United Methodist Church held a holiday party with Santa for needy children from Old Southwest and Southeast Roanoke. The group also held a dance for teens. Gifts were provided for 34 children and 15 teens as part of Trinity's year-round program of activities, education, 4-H and fellowship.
\ The Salem Wal-Mart employees presented a check for $1,360 to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. The donation was based on a percentage of sales during a three-hour period on the day after Thanksgiving.
\ Circle 3 of Grace United Methodist Women plans a Christmas project for the residents of Southern Manor Home on Williamson Road each year. This year, the 12-member group made bags filled with baked goods, candy and fruit. The group also provides treats such as ice cream, cupcakes and brownies throughout the year for the residents.
\ The U.S. Marine Corps' annual Toys for Tots program served 2,800 Southwest Virginia families this Christmas. The program drew volunteer help and donations from numerous businesses and organizations, including:
A $4,000 check from Kroger and Tropicana.
More than $500 in toys from the Roanoke branch of Ford Credit and the Southwest Virginia Ford and Lincoln-Mercury dealers. The toys were purchased with the proceeds from leasing contracts purchased under Ford Credit's Red Carpet Lease Plan.
Walter Chiropractic Clinic, where Dr. Gregory L. Walter accepted unwrapped new toys in exchange for all new patients' first-visit charges during the first 15 days of December.
At Community Hospital of Roanoke Valley, chefs donated a gingerbread house to the Baptist Children's Home. The house, made with 80 pounds of sugar, 45 pounds of gingerbread, 32 pounds of royal icing, 10 pounds of assorted nuts and a variety of candies, took more than 40 hours to make.
The hospital's Volunteer Auxiliary sponsored A Celebration of Lights, tree-lighting ceremony featuring singing by 3- and 4-year-olds from the hospital's child-care center. A $5 donation bought a light, placed on the tree as a memorial or honor to a family member or friend. The proceeds will be used for scholarships for College of Health Sciences students.
Many of the hospital's departments adopted families or sponsored children whose names appeared on angel trees.
For the fifth year, pre-kindergarten children in the hospital's child-care program visited Our Lady of the Valley, singing carols and delivering handmade Christmas cards.
The Stewartsville Elementary School PTA sponsored an angel tree, providing Christmas presents for 97 children in 40 families.
\ Children of the Roanoke Friends Meeting donated new and used toys and books as Christmas gifts for children at Total Action Against Poverty's Transitional Living Center, a residential facility for homeless people and families.
For the fourth consecutive year, the Friendship Manor Residents' Association donated money and purchased Christmas gifts for residents of the retirement community's health care center who had no family or friends with whom to share Christmas.
The association donated $300 and also purchased gowns, socks and pajamas, using a generous holiday discount from Kmart at the New Crossroads Mall.
Members of the Joint Resident Council of Roanoke's public housing communities did some swell stuff for the residents of their neighborhoods during the holidays. Resident councils are groups of resident volunteers dedicated to improving the quality of life in public housing.
\ The Bluestone Park Concerned Citizens Group distributed toys, donated by the Roanoke Valley Black Nurses Association. The citizens' group bought candy and held a drawing for a Christmas food basket.
\ The Hunt Manor Resident Council held a youth Christmas party.
\ Hurt Park's Resident Council held a Christmas dinner for senior citizens with oldies music. Some food was donated by Kroger.
\ The Indian Rock Village Tenant Association joined forces with the Unitarian Universalist Church Youth Group to sponsor a youth Christmas party. Santa distributed gift bags, and about 50 children played games, made decorations and had refreshments.
\ The Lansdowne Park Resident Council held a potluck Christmas dinner for residents and housing authority staff. The dinner included music and dancing.
\ The Lincoln Terrace Resident Council and the Azusa Street Ministries put on a Christmas program, and the council held a youth Christmas party with the help of friends at Virginia Tech.
\ The Melrose Towers and Morningside Manor Resident Councils held potluck Christmas dinners.
In addition, the Roanoke Redevelopment and Housing Authority staff donated gifts and toys for public housing residents needing assistance during the holidays. Personnel wrapped gifts and the managers delivered them to 13 families, serving 53 children.
\ Cub Scout Pack 610, chartered by the Salem Wesleyan Church, spent two weekends in November "Scouting for Food." About 25 Scouts distributed fliers throughout Salem neighborhoods during the first weekend and picked up donated canned goods during the second.
More than 900 items were presented to the food pantry at First Christian Church for use by needy families.
\ The Tuesday Morning Extension Homemaker Club of Troutville donated a food basket and a turkey to a needy family and decorated a tree for the residents at the Brian Center in Fincastle, using the theme "Carousel Christmas."
Thirty-three churches of the Church of the Brethren packed a boxcar and a truck filled with Christmas goodies for 900 Appalachian people in Kentucky. Gifts of clothing, furniture, appliances and children's toys were sent.
The 8-year-old project supports families of the Kentucky Small Farms Project Inc., a non-profit group helping Appalachia's impoverished families.
\ The Roanoke Education Association Inc. filled 93 Salvation Army stockings for Roanoke children along with donating new clothing. In addition, 25 wrapped gifts were presented to WFIR radio's drive for hospitalized children.
\ Kroger and the Knights of Columbus, Roanoke Council 562, helped make Christmas a bit more cheerful for some Roanoke Valley families. Donald E. Pierce spotted some surplus turkeys in the Kroger warehouse where he works and arranged to have them donated to RAM House in the name of the Knights.
In the 12 years since it began, the Good Neighbor Ministry of Windsor Hills Baptist Church has provided as many as 90 gift baskets and Bibles for the needy. The ministry also provides personal boxes for many shut-ins and for some residents of the Hazleridge complex. Members have purchased tires and paid electric bills for folks short on money.
\ Sunday school classes also adopt needy families, which receive money, food and clothing as needed.
\ The Fraternal Order of Police Auxiliary provided requested Christmas presents for their adopted patients at Coyner Springs Nursing Home. The group sent cosmetics for other patients.
by CNB