By Melanie Patterson
The North Jefferson News
Six Kimberly women spent the vast majority of their Tuesday shopping for others.
Mona Hendrix, the town’s assistant town clerk, headed up the platoon of shoppers for the annual Kimberly Christmas for Kids program.
For seven hours, the ladies took one list at a time and picked out the needs and wants of 51 children in need.
Shopping carts were filled with jackets, clothing and toys - all paid for with donations from businesses and citizens in and around Kimberly.
“We’ve been blessed,” said Hendrix, who has taken charge of the program for several years. “We’ve gotten a lot more donations than some other cities.”
T.P. Millers Bar and Grill hosted a battle of the bands contest, which netted $1,400 and numerous toys for the program.
Other businesses that donated were Herring Heating and Air Service, Welch’s Muffler Automotive and Truck Repair, the Dollar General stores in Morris and Warrior, and the Kimberly AMVETS post.
Hendrix said IGA MarketPlace donated all of the food for the Christmas party Friday.
In addition, KMart, where the volunteers were shopping Tuesday, gave $2,000 worth of discounts for the items purchased, Hendrix said.
“We couldn’t do it without the citizens, either,” said Hendrix. “There’s no way we could do it without the support.”
There have been numerous individual donations, including one from a stranger in KMart on Tuesday.
“She started asking questions about the program,” Hendrix said. “She started welling up in the eyes, and I was welling up too. She wrote us a check for 100 dollars.”
Usually, Kimberly’s Christmas program includes donating up to 100 fruit baskets to senior citizens, but donations ran too short this year.
“Don’t get me started talking about that,” Hendrix said. “I’ll start crying again.”
