Chris Sessoms stacks wrapped packages ready for Western North Carolina. The gifts will be handed out to individual children, and to families, to uplift their spirits during the holiday season.
Groups gathering gifts, supplies for another western NC run
Sampson County’s efforts to provide a caring hand to its neighbors in western North Carolina are ongoing, with a community push underway to amass supplies for an upcoming relief trip benefiting Hurricane Helene victims.
The project has no name but the goal is clear — to uplift children and families in the western part of the state devastated by the storm, particularly as the cold winter chill and the Christmas holiday quickly approach.
That wish has blossomed, leading to scores of donations pouring in at Clinton Community Church. Next to the church, in a small gray house, dedicated members of the community have been packing gift boxes using the goods they’ve received, all which are going to the Black Mountain Home for Children in Black Mountain.
The group’s mission has motivated Sampson County to rally resources, donations and goodwill in the form of essential items for those youth in need, with hopes of spreading holiday cheer. In each box are winter shoes, blankets, a toy, desserts and much more. Every box is wrapped and labeled so each boy and girl can receive aid and a present, the boxes doubling as Christmas gifts.
Spearheaded by local volunteers and churches, the relief project continues to draw attention. Among the many groups making this possible are Helping Hands, Tim’s Gifts and Grateful Shed, and the three are collaborating to gather the supplies and carry them to Black Mountain.
But the project was not there’s alone, as Becky Spell, of Tim’s Gift, noted. Without the community, and God, she said, none of this was possible.
“It’s our three groups working together to help pull this together, but this is by no mean just our project,” Spell attested. “It’s just truly been the community, and by the grace of God that’s made it successful. This couldn’t have been possible without the unity in this community, and that’s what I think is at the core of all this.”
Chris Sessoms of Helping Hands agrees.
“This is not a Tim’s Gift or a Helping Hands project,” Sessoms stressed. “This is a God project; it’s got nothing to do with none of us. I mean, really, the Shed Head guys, they’ve always had that helping attitude. It don’t matter who you are, where you’re from, if you need help, they help, and that’s what God wants us to do.”
As word has spread about the operation, support has come in nearly nonstop, and Sessoms said contributions have poured in from inside and outside of Sampson County.
“As we’ve been collecting items, shoes were not something that had been donated yet, but, now, we are taking 200 pairs,” explained Sessoms. “In that regard, I have to give a shout out to Olive Baptist Church in Florida. Their adult Sunday school class contacted me and said they’re going to purchase whatever shoes we do not have once I get all the sizes, and the girl I talked to told me she’d already collected $600.”
“That’s another of God’s miracles because I was worrying about how we were going to get the rest of the shoes once we sorted out the sizes and what we were missing,” she added. “But now, thanks to God, I don’t have to worry about that anymore.”
The team departs for Black Mountain on Dec. 10, and while plenty of donations have come in, Sessoms said they’re still addressing immediate needs before they leave. For any who want to assist in that need, she said there’s a couple key items they still need, as well as some they don’t need.
“While were going to the children’s home, we’ll be doing all we can to help,” she said. “The guys with Grateful Shed are staying overnight to help at some facility over there, working to help save homes, and they’ll be cooking for over 400 people. The number one thing they’ve asked for is Lowe’s gift cards. These people have to put their houses back together and they don’t have funds to do it with.”
While gift cards are a good donation, clothes simply aren’t needed. Shoes, though, particularly winter boots, are among the items being taken.
“That said, we’re not taking any used clothes,” Sessoms stressed. “They don’t want used clothes because they’ve had a couple manufacturers donate brand new clothes to them.Like I said, shoes was not something that had been donated yet. When it happened, it was in the summer, it’s getting cold so most of them asked for winter type shoes, or duck boots, something like that.
“So, we’ll be wrapping them and that’ll be their Christmas gift, because the parents don’t have funds to do that right now.”
To help bring a sense of normalcy and joy during the trip, Sessoms said they’re also delivering Christmas trees with ornaments to offer another touch of the holiday spirit to children who, otherwise, might not experience it this year, “To a child, that’s huge,” she stated.
This isn’t their first mission trip to the area. This will be the third trip for those with Grateful Shed, and Spell and Sessoms, have been at least once.
When describing what it’s been like seeing the devastation and the struggle of those living there, Sessoms said it was humbling.
“This is a humbling experience, when you talk to these people,” she said. “I can’t imagine waking up one day and having absolutely nothing. I mean, nothing. Then there were those that don’t want to leave their properties, so they’re sleeping on the porches because they can’t go in the houses. A lot of them are just using blankets and stuff to sleep on the porch.
“Despite their hardship, there are those who receive something and then give it to someone else in more need,” Sessoms added. “That is proof that you can’t out give God, and when you give from the heart, it comes back tenfold.”
In the midst of this tragedy, the stories of resilience and miracles abound. Sessoms told of a single church left standing amid the destruction, its hymnals still open to “Farther Along,” the last song sung before disaster struck.
For those here in Sampson County, this project stands as a testament of what Thanksgiving is meant to be about, the power of community, compassion and gratitude, Spell said.
“There are so many to thank, I mean, this really has been an ongoing community effort,” Spell remarked. “I have to give a shout out to Clinton Community Church and Pastor Eddie (Barnes) they’ve been very supportive. When people would come, he would go get boxes for them, and they are letting us use the building that is beside the church to store everything. It’s just been real intense because it’s a busy season right now, but people have been so supportive because they want to give.
“We have so much to be thankful for,” Sessoms concluded. “If you look around, we have stoves, cars and roofs over our heads. These families have nothing, but thanks to God and this amazing community effort, they’ll have some Christmas magic this holiday season.”
For those interested in contributing, Sessoms said contact her at 910-596-7005. She also mentioned they would love to have more dessert donation for those interested contact Annette Brewington at 910-214-2953.
Reach Michael B. Hardison at 910-249-4231. Follow us on Twitter at @SamsponInd, like us on Facebook, and check out our Instagram at @thesampsonindependent.