On
Saturday, Old Town Elementary parents participated in the fifth annual Love
Out Loud Gift Mart.
The annual event is sponsored by Bridges Church.
People in the community donated toys and other items, and, at the mart, parents
could buy holiday gifts for $2 per gift, no matter what its actual value. Families
could purchase up to three gifts per child.
“We had
a great day at Old Town Elementary with the Love out Loud Gift Mart on
Saturday,” said Stacey Norris, the testing coordinator at Old
Town. “The goal of this
program is to give parents the opportunity to shop for presents for their
children, creating a hand up instead of a hand out."
People donated about 650 gifts, and parents bought presents for 122 children. While parents were selecting gifts and having them wrapped, children were able to make gifts and cards for their parents. Parents who were not able to attend will be able to be there on Saturday will be able to buy gifts this week at the school.
More than 45 volunteers from Old Town
Elementary, Faith United Methodist Church, Reagan High School and Bridges Church
volunteered to make the day a success, Norris said.
Bridges Church is the sponsoring partner for the school’s BackPack program and all money collected at the mart goes back into that program. Bridges also operates a clothing closet and food pantry that serves families at Old Town. Two years ago, Bridges received the Governor’s Service Award in the faith-based category for its contributions to Old Town.
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