Army staff sergeant organizes Christmas Eve giveaway in Ridge Spring

Matthew Christian, Aiken Standard, S.C.
·1 min read

Dec. 25—For people in the southeastern Saluda County community of Ridge Spring, Christmas got a lot merrier Saturday afternoon.

Native Marquis Goodwin, an Army staff sergeant stationed in Baltimore, his twin brother, Marcus, and others held a Christmas giveaway from noon to 2 p.m. at the Town Square.

Marquis worked to organize the giveaway for Christmas Eve, his only day off during the holiday season.

"I got the idea about three or four weeks ago, talked to my brother and said we should do something to give back to our community since a lot of tragedy has been going on, and our community has been downgrading since we graduated high school," Goodwin said.

The group known as Helping Today, Builds Tomorrow worked with local community members and churches to obtain items to giveaway — donations included clothes, toys and candy. As of 1 p.m., 50-75 people had shown up to get a gift for Christmas.

"Just to see the smiles on kids' faces is amazing to me," Marquis said. "Seeing the smiles on everyone's faces is an amazing feeling."

Kira Hendrix was a volunteer at the event. She said she came out to help people in need and to make sure children had a merry Christmas.

The event also included hot cocoa and warm water — Saturday's high temperature was 27 degrees — and music.