It was a wonderful Christmas season locally for Toys for Tots. Through many ministries and organizations such as Angel Tree, BAYCB, Boys and Girls Club, Big Brothers/Sisters Program, Casa Women’s Shelter, Children's Advocacy Center of SE AR, Claus and Effect, DHS, Highland Ministries, New Edinburg Community Center, Pine Bluff New Life Church, Pine Bluff Hospital, TOPPS, and many others as well, we were able to distribute 3,740 toys, 2,541 books, and 474 stocking stuffers bringing smiles to over 3,500 children in Cleveland, Jefferson, and Lincoln Counties and the cities of Fordyce and Stuttgart. A big thank you goes out to all those who graciously donated their time and or resources to help make this possible. We especially wish to thank Charles Rodgers and Randy Morgan with the Cleveland County Veterans Association who, through countless hours, helped with sorting and distributing; Theresa Orso with Disabled American Veterans (DAV), Felicia Williams and SFC Smithers with the AR National Guard and the Watson Chapel High School JROTC who helped man several toy collection booths in Pine Bluff and the Star City High School Students who helped man toy collection booths in Star City; our corporate sponsors FBT Bank and Ollies along with Dollar General and the many local small businesses which donated resources and/or space for posters and collection boxes; and the Rison United Methodist Church which donated space for collecting, sorting and distributing toys and books. I would also like to personally recognize the exemplary efforts of this year’s Toys for Tots Youth Ambassador, Kymberly Yarnell, who was cheerfully at all the collection booths and many area events greeting people with a smile, and Marquis Yarnell, who represented the AR National Guard at all the collection booths and many area events and also helped sort and distribute all the toys and books. We now turn our attention towards the start of the 2025 Toy...
To access content, please login or purchase a subscription.