Group helps Cherryville students shop for mom for Mother's Day

Susan Eason, the owner of Party Girls Catering in Cherryville, received a Christmas gift from her granddaughter in 2022 that inspired her.

“I was the only one that got a gift because she could only afford one,” Eason said.

The following year, she got to work collecting donated new and lightly used jewelry that the children could take for free, and gift to their mother, grandmother or caretaker.

The gift Eason received from her granddaughter in 2022 was purchased at a yearly school fundraiser where children can find gifts for their family.

The fundraiser takes place around Christmas time and is a great program to raise money for the school, Eason said.

Since she did not want to be competition for the fundraising efforts, Eason decided to focus her program on Mother’s Day.

Turning to the community, Eason collected new and used jewelry from her church, friends and families with help from her sister, Mary Underwood, and other friends and family members.

Last year, the group of volunteers helped more than 800 children find gifts for their loved ones.

This year, in addition to the usual donations from church members, friends and the Cherryville American Legion Unit 100, the group also received a 700-piece donation from a local family that wished to remain anonymous.

Donations for this year’s program even came from as far as New York, Eason said.

All donations received go straight to the sunroom of Eason’s mother, 81-year-old Ann Craft, who personally sorts and sanitizes every piece.

Craft sanitized nearly 2,000 pieces of jewelry for this year’s program.

“I couldn’t do it without my sister, her husband, and the Perrys,” Eason said.

This year the group served more than 600 children between Cherryville Elementary and W.B. Beam Intermediate School.

At an event on Tuesday, May 7, students at Cherryville Elementary School were assisted by Eason and the group, who asked them what their mother or caretaker’s favorite color was or helped them find jewelry alternatives when they said their parents don’t often wear any.

Students left with decorative paper fans, fake plants, clip on earrings and similar items.

According to Eason, one of the most rewarding aspects of the program is hearing from parents who still enjoy the jewelry they were gifted in a previous year.

This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Group helps students shop for mom for Mother's Day