VALLEY — Christian Service Center Director Cheryl Myers told members of the Kiwanis Club of Valley on Wednesday that the charitable organization had a successful Christmas season in 2017.

Myers, who was the guest speaker at the club’s weekly meeting at Langdale Methodist Church, reported that 815 local children were served.

“We had a lot of new families that came to us for help this year,” she said. “So many of the people we see have temporary jobs and don’t know they will be working the next week. They wait till the last minute to buy anything, especially Christmas gifts.”

The Christian Service Center served a record number of families this year: 955 in Lanett, 702 in Valley, 544 in LaFayette and more than 250 in rural Chambers County. Of that number, Myers said that 265 families received new clothing and 855 received used clothing. Two hundred students received school supplies.

“We delivered boxes of school supplies to local schools,” she said. “We do what we can to help the teachers. They know what students need help.”

Something new this past year in the lead up to the holidays was a Christmas store held in the family life center of West End Baptist Church in Valley.

“It went really well,” Myers said. “Volunteers helped us and made a big difference. We had rows of tables with toys on them. Families could come in and pick out gifts Some of the mothers were so happy they were crying.”

Myers said she’s hoping to get off to an early start for Christmas 2018.

“If there are 800 children from families that need help, and you want to give each child five toys, that means we will need 4,000 of them by September,” she said.  “With any $20 donation to the Christian Service Center, we can get four different gifts for a child. We can get really good bike helmets for $5 each.”

Myers said the Christmas Store was a blessing for everyone with the Christian Service Center

“It really touched our hearts,” she said. “It really did.”

The CSC gave out an estimated 98,000 pounds of food in 2017. Much of this food had been slightly damaged at stores like Walmart.

“It might be a box of cereal that’s come open or a can of food that’s been dented,” Myers said. “The food hasn’t been exposed and is still good. We can take food that would otherwise be thrown away and get it to needy families.

“I believe that God is watching over this ministry,” she said. “There have been so many times when we think of something we need, and before we can even mention it to anybody, it’s there.”