On December 16, 2021, the Kiwanis Club of Christiansburg held its annual children’s Christmas event with the children picking up their gifts at the Christiansburg Recreation Center.
Due to COVID concerns as was the case last year, rather than having the children gather for a pizza party and Santa delivering their gifts, their parents or guardians came to the recreation center’s parking lot where Kiwanis members delivered to each child a bag of toys, a bag of clothing, a box of food, and a ham.
For those unable to come pick up their gifts, the club delivered the gifts to their homes.
The process began with the local schools providing the Kiwanis Club the names of children in need. The schools also obtained and provided the club with a list of the clothing needed and the toys desired. Once the names were received, each Kiwanian took a name and bought clothes for the child selected. Items of clothing purchased included coats, sweaters, shoes, boots, socks, pants, shirts, and underwear.
On average, each club member spent in excess of $100 per child for clothing. The club members then wrapped the gifts and delivered them to the Recreation Center for distribution.
On the Saturday before the event, a group of Kiwanis members went on a club-funded 7:00 a.m.
shopping spree at Walmart, purchased toys for the children, and delivered them to the B & B
storage facility. Later, the toys were taken to Christiansburg High School where they were wrapped and bagged by the Early Childhood Education class. Once they were wrapped, the toys were returned to B & B Storage until they could be delivered to the Christiansburg Recreation Center for distribution to the children’s parents as they drove through the recreation center parking lot.
The members buying clothes and the club providing toys and food spent in excess of $10,000 total this year. The funds the club used to buy toys and food came from the various fund-raising activities the club had during the year.
The club sends a big thank-you to Walmart and its employees, B &B Storage (Bryan Rice), the Early Childhood Education class at CHS, the Christiansburg Recreation Center, and all the Kiwanis members who helped make this event a success.
Special thanks go to Kiwanian Dennis Hunter, who chaired the event for the Kiwanis Club, and to the Kiwanis members who provided the resources that made the event happen..
