Fort Smith organizations give back to the River Valley for the holidays

Robert Hall, a volunteer for the Salvation Army, rings a bell on Friday to help collect donations outside a Walmart in Fort Smith. Hall, who said he is in his 13th year of volunteering for the organization, sang "I'll Be Home for Christmas" while ringing the bell. Go to nwaonline.com/21121pDaily/ for today's photo gallery.
(NWA Democrat-Gazette/Hank Layton)
Robert Hall, a volunteer for the Salvation Army, rings a bell on Friday to help collect donations outside a Walmart in Fort Smith. Hall, who said he is in his 13th year of volunteering for the organization, sang "I'll Be Home for Christmas" while ringing the bell. Go to nwaonline.com/21121pDaily/ for today's photo gallery. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Hank Layton)

FORT SMITH -- The holidays are often a time to give to others and create memories with friends and families. Several organizations are doing just that by collecting money for Christmas meals and presents, or finding ways to give back to the community.

The Salvation Army of Fort Smith is giving out $25 gift certificates to Harps or Price Cutter this year, in lieu of a sit-down meal.

Corps Officer Bradley Hargis said the certificates were easier to do due to a lack of volunteers, and allowed families to meet their individual needs in ways a general food box could not.

"We tried to open it up a little bit to where we were sensitive to that, and could allow families basically their own choice to get the items maybe that they culturally get for the holidays, or those final things maybe that they're needing," he said. "Or if there's a young parent that needs to go buy formula, they can do so with those certificates, and not necessarily have to make work whatever they're given in a box. We think that that maybe is going to be a better option."

Hargis said it's senior citizens who are typically looking for the most food relief around the holidays, as they're living on a fixed income.

Those needing to use a certificate can go to the Salvation Army during food pantry hours -- 9 a.m. to noon, Monday, Wednesday and Friday -- from now until Saturday. The pantry is at 301 N. Sixth St.

Riverview Hope Campus and Evangel Temple also are hosting Christmas meals.

The Hope Campus will hold a lunch at 10 a.m. and a dinner at 4 p.m. Christmas day, which will be open to the public and Hope Campus residents. The campus is at 301 South E St.

Evangel Temple will have church at Hope Park on 14 North H St. at noon on Christmas day and will distribute packaged to-go meals after.

The local Salvation Army also has kettles and bell ringers stationed across the River Valley for their annual Red Kettle Campaign. The campaign is the organization's largest fundraiser and helps provide food, shelter and other aid for families, seniors and the homeless.

Hargis said the campaign will continue until noon Friday, and that this year's goal is to raise $150,000 in the River Valley area. About $80,000 had been raised as of last week, he said.

Donations are lower than they were in 2020, which were also less than what the Salvation Army typically collects, Hargis said.

"There's been lots of natural disasters this year, so people gave what they would've at year end to those disasters. We know we've had a lot of that, with wildfires and hurricanes, and even the more recent tornadoes that went through, and that does affect kettles. Also, we know a lot of it was really affected by inflation, so people have less money in their pocket to give this year than probably in a while," Hargis said.

Those wanting to volunteer or donate to a kettle can find locations and times by entering their ZIP code at RegisterToRing.com.

A Salvation Army Christmas tradition continued last week, with the Angel Trees donations distributed to local families Thursday.

Toys and clothing were provided to over 13,000 children last year by individuals selecting angel ornaments with Christmas lists at local shopping areas and businesses.

"It's kind of done through community partnership," Hargis said. "We partner very heavily with foster care, and also with the Fort Smith Public School district. We do of course just have general community sign ups, and then we also have some that are referred to us from the state for incarcerated families. A lot of our angels are actually collected from those agencies."

The community was "incredibly generous" in terms of Angel Tree this year, he said, adding every child on the Salvation Army's list will be sponsored and have a gift waiting for them Christmas morning.

School district Superintendent Terry Morawski recognized Assistant Superintendent Tiffany Bone at a School Board meeting Monday for organizing a similar angel tree effort this year at the district's service center.

"Through her efforts, more than 80 children were able to have their holiday wishes come true," he said.

The school district has organized several other volunteer efforts this holiday season, including a partnership between the School-Based Health Center student advisers and the Arkansas Colleges of Health Education medical students to collect hygeine products for Tilles Elementary School fourth- and fifth-graders.

The School-Based Health Center student advisers are a group organized this year, selected from students who participate in the Darby Health Sciences Academy.

Zena Featherston Marshall, the district's executive director of communication, said roughly 120 goodie bags of hygeine products like soap and toothpaste were collected to help those students.

"The important thing is a student's ability to give back. And one of the other ways that students do that is in participating with the Christmas Honors project," Featherston Marshall said.

Christmas Honors is a local program that placed roughly 16,500 wreaths in Fort Smith National Cemetery to honor veterans over the holidays.

Featherston Marshall said about 387 Fort Smith Junior ROTC members helped fluff the wreaths and place them at the cemetery, where veterans' families and other volunteers helped place them on the graves.

The organization will have volunteers help collect the wreaths and dry them before they're stored until next year, which will take place at the cemetery and the Fort Smith Convention Center from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Jan. 5.

Links to donate or volunteer for Christmas Honors can be found through the organization's website at www.ChristmasHonors.org.

Another Christmas present collection group benefiting area children is the Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots. The charity distributed roughly 12,620 toys to 3,345 children in the Fort Smith area in 2020.

About 45 businesses have toy drop-off stations across the River Valley. Visit fort-smith-ar.toysfortots.org for a full list of sites. Those needing to request a toy can apply through the website as well.

  photo  Robert Hall, a volunteer for the Salvation Army, rings a bell on Friday to help collect donations outside a Walmart in Fort Smith. Hall, who said he is in his 13th year of volunteering for the organization, sang "'ll Be Home for Christmas" while ringing the bell. Go to nwaonline.com/211219Daily/ for today's photo gallery. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Hank Layton)
 
 

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