Christmas stores make holiday miracles come true for families with low incomes

Meya Sanders knew she and her three boys would have a brighter Christmas as soon as her eyes caught a glimpse of the board games at the First Presbyterian Church Christmas Store.

Sanders, a Fort Smith resident, picked up Monopoly and a giant version of Sorry, along with large thermoses and fishing poles.

“I want to start them back to doing board games versus video games,” Sanders said. "They had been complaining about their water bottles leaking at school, so I figured that would definitely help out."

The Christmas Store, hosted by First Presbyterian Church, gave families with low incomes the opportunity to purchase high-quality gifts at a more affordable cost.

Sanders connected with the Christmas Store through the Single Parent Scholarship program when she was a student at Arkansas Tech University. This was her third year shopping at the store.

“Every year, it’s something different,” she said. “I’ve gotten shoes the year before, skateboards, scooters. They have a variety of things you can get for each child. It is very helpful to at least get these three gifts that I’ve gotten for them. If I can’t get anything else, that at least lets us have a Christmas, so it’s very helpful.”

The holiday shopping season can be stressful for many families, but for those with limited or no income, their children’s wishes and dreams may struggle to materialize. As they have done throughout the pandemic, parents and guardians must make tough decisions as they face increasing grocery costs, higher rent and low wages.

To ease this burden, churches and nonprofits have come together to host Christmas events where families can select gifts for their kids.

The action figures, basketballs and stuffed animals at the Christmas Store at First Presbyterian Church and the Christmas Mall at New Life Church Fort Smith represent more than just a Christmas wish. They are opportunities for parents and guardians to shop for their children with dignity as they would in any store.

Support all around the holidays

Encircled by tables of toys and games, families and volunteers pushed shopping carts through the sanctuary of New Life Church Fort Smith.

Inside the Christmas Mall, groups of shoppers searched through stacks of toys divided by age group. Each family selected three free gifts for their children ranging from infants to 12 years old.

The toys were then passed to volunteers, who wrapped them while another set of volunteers helped load the gifts into vehicles.

Manuel, who did not provide his last name, shared about his shopping experience.

“This is my second year, and it’s been good,” he said. “It helps a lot. We got painting stuff for the little one and roller skates for the older one.”

The Christmas Mall, which has been held for seven years was made possible because of longstanding relationships with families living in low-income housing in Fort Smith.

In November, volunteers with the Arkansas Dream Center Fort Smith and area churches delivered gift cards as a part of Thanks for Giving, a community outreach campaign to provide families in need with Thanksgiving meals.

While connecting with the family, the group collected the names, ages and sizes of the children in order to invite the 144 families to the Christmas Mall the following month at New Life Church Fort Smith.

Gifts and financial contributions for the mall were donated by church members, along with additional gifts from the Arkansas Family Alliance. The gift values ranged up to $20 to $25 dollars.

With parents directly choosing gifts for their children, the goal is to help families have a typical holiday without the stress or burden of finances.

“Our whole premise of it is for this to be from the parents,” said Kimberly Shaver, a CityServe pastor with New Life Church. “It’s not from us. That’s why they write their own names on the tags, so it’s in mom and dad’s handwriting.”

Wayne Jones, a volunteer who carried gifts to families’ vehicles, has taken part in the event every year.

“I hope the impact is to build God’s kingdom,” Jones said. “That's what we’re put on this earth for is to advance his kingdom and bring others to the gospel of Jesus Christ … It’s not all about the gifts or any of this. It’s all about our Lord Jesus Christ and to glorify his name, so hopefully, that’s what’ll come out of this.”

Gifts with a purpose

Whether looking for a baby doll or a remote-controlled car, parents at the Christmas Store at First Presbyterian Church choose and purchase gifts for their kids without the restrictions or worries they may face in other areas of their lives.

The choices and the payment model are intentional to “make sure that we respect the individuals who we are working with,” said Phillip Blackburn, co-pastor of First Presbyterian Church.

“What we wanted to get away from is this kind of savior type model, where we would come in and provide things and the families would stand off to the side and watch us provide for their children,” Blackburn said. “We wanted to give them the ability to provide for their children.”

Keley Simpson, missions facilitator for the church, said while the toys’ value ranges up to about $30, families pay only $2 or $4 or $8 per gift.

The money from the store goes to support the purchase of toys for next year’s families, Blackburn said, so that the cycle of dignity and giving continues.

Both Blackburn and Simpson emphasized the quality of the gifts that parents are able to purchase. Along with using the proceeds from the store, gifts are also donated by church members.

“We really encourage the members that if they’re going to buy toys to spend between $5 and $30,” Blackburn said. “What we’ve learned is if you just go to like Dollar General or Dollar Tree and get stuff, that’s not really helping them because our price points aren’t that far off.”

Like Sanders, who was referred to the church through the Single Parent Scholarship Program, families are connected to the Christmas Store through community partner agencies including 100 Families, Arkansas Department of Human Services and Lincoln Childcare Center.

The store, which has been held for almost a decade, evokes memories of past Christmases for Simpson.

“I remember there was one year that we did not have a good Christmas, and my parents were just too proud to go any donation handout programs,” Simpson said. “… They were too embarrassed, and it was just a year we were struggling. It was a hard lesson I had to learn as a child that sometimes you don’t get the gift that you want. That's when I learned that Christmas was more about being kind to each other, loving each other, than a gift.”

While there are options for free toy giveaways, the 230 kids served by the Christmas Store speaks to the desire for some families to buy their own gifts and “testifies to some degree to that element of our mission goal, which is to just fully recognize and empower the humanity,” Blackburn said.

“I want parents to come here and feel like they’re going to find quality items,” Simpson said. “… The goal is to have it where they own their Christmas. ‘These are my Christmas gifts I bought for my kids. I picked them out.’”

This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: Families shop for Christmas gifts in stores designed with dignity