Beebe Fill the Truck Toy and Coat Drive to benefit Angel Tree program

From left, Brian Duke; Tim Hammack; Rick Jackson; Kristen Boswell, executive director of the Beebe Chamber of Commerce; and Butch Rice, president and CEO of Stallion Transportation, participate in the Fill the Truck Toy and Coat Drive at the Walmart Supercenter in Beebe.
From left, Brian Duke; Tim Hammack; Rick Jackson; Kristen Boswell, executive director of the Beebe Chamber of Commerce; and Butch Rice, president and CEO of Stallion Transportation, participate in the Fill the Truck Toy and Coat Drive at the Walmart Supercenter in Beebe.

BEEBE — During the holidays, the word “angel” brings up a variety of images. For some, a Christmas angel is a figurine that sits at the top of a Christmas tree. For others, it is a child taking part in a Christmas play at church.

For many people, an angel is a child in the community who needs help during the holidays. The Beebe Angel Tree Program has identified more than 600 angels who live in the Beebe School District to be recipients of donated gifts this year.

As part of the Beebe Angel Tree Program, shoppers have an opportunity for the second year in a row to purchase new toys and coats for local children in need as part of the Fill the Truck Toy and Coat Drive at the Beebe Walmart Supercenter.

“Time and again, this community has shown love and compassion for one another,” Mayor Mike Robertson said in a press release. “More than 600 children are in need of assistance this holiday season. You can place a smile on the face of a child with a simple toy donation or warm the soul during this winter season with the gift of a coat. The greatest gift one can give is love for another.”

The Fill the Truck program is a collaboration among the Beebe Police Department, the Beebe Fire Department, the Beebe Chamber of Commerce, the Stallion Transportation Group and Walmart.

Kristen Boswell, executive director of the Beebe Chamber of Commerce, said the Fire Department ran a similar program several years ago, but the new Fill the Truck program has provided a wider reach and more chances for people to donate.

Collection boxes will be available through Dec. 14 for those who want to give new toys, coats or monetary donations, and volunteers will be on-site during the weekends to help gather donations.

With more than 600 angels this year, Boswell said, the Fill the Truck collection will play an instrumental role in the Beebe Angel Tree Program.

“The need is greater this year,” she said. “Everything we collect will stay here in Beebe. Everything we collect will go to the Angel Tree Program. It’s such an important way for people to support others in the community.”

Programs like these give local businesses a chance to reach out and make a difference in their hometowns. For instance, Stallion Transportation, based in Beebe, has donated the truck in front of Walmart that is being used to collect items for the toy and coat drive.

“It’s tremendously important for us to be a part of something like this,” said Butch Rice, president and CEO of Stallion. “To be involved with something so close to home, it makes it even more special.”

For more information about Fill the Truck, call the Beebe Chamber of Commerce at (501) 882-8135. For more information about the Beebe Angel Tree Program, call Penny Parchman at (501) 912-2917 or Flo Fitch at (501) 882-5463.

Staff writer Angela Spencer can be reached at (501) 244-4307 or aspencer@arkansasonline.com.

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