Texas charity founded by prior police chief ensures no child is without a Christmas gift

On Tuesday, December 19, Operation Brown Bag volunteers led over 50 children through Walmart to purchase Christmas gifts with a $125 budget per child. If not for the operation, these children would have had nothing under their tree this year.

Humble beginnings

A chance encounter with a child and a dumpster inspired Jay Strong to start this heart-warming endeavor, Operation Brown Bag. Strong, then police chief for the city of Tye, was out on patrol when he noticed a hungry child scavenging for scraps in a nearby dumpster and it "broke his heart." When he followed the child home, the fridge was nearly bare, so Strong and his wife, Deborah, decided to start feeding the hungry.

Strong, now the 326th District Court Constable for the Taylor County Courthouse, said childhood hunger also affected him in his youth, and he felt passionate to start this project to ensure that no other child would have to go hungry again.

Strong and Deborah, began this operation by feeding children out of their home and checking in on the children weekly. He is now proud to announce that since receiving their nonprofit status, "not one single cent goes to anything other than the recipients" of this generous organization.

Strong credits the big man upstairs for everything they are able to do. "God has always made sure that we've had every penny to be able to help these families every year."

'Beauty and tragedy'

While childhood hunger inspired the operation, it quickly grew to cover Christmas as well. The first year Strong was the Tye Police Department Chief, he did what "everybody else did" by purchasing gifts for needy children within their town.

What he learned, however, was that their needs went so much deeper than just Christmas gifts alone. The children needed everything from basic necessities to school clothes to even just shower curtains.

In 2017, Operation volunteers took their first lot of children Christmas shopping at Walmart, with each child assigned a secret shopper to help them stay within their $125 budget. Strong sadly recalled that some children attended the event with "the toes cut out of their shoes" and were overjoyed to be able to purchase a properly-fitting pair.

On December 19, this year, volunteers from Operation Brown Bag gathered at the local Walmart to do some more of this well-deserved shopping. Strong says that every year about 90% of the children go shopping for someone other than themselves, purchasing gifts for everyone from siblings to grandparents.

The most inspiring part of the Operation Brown Bag journey thus far, according to Strong, has been seeing the families "who were recipients of this who are now back on their feet, and have now donated funds to help other families." There is "beauty and tragedy" in this endeavor, and it really comes full circle for Strong.

"When people come together, they can change a child's life," according to Strong.

Expanding their mission

From starting in Taylor County, the organization has now been able to expand into Nolan and Callahan counties as well. And, while Christmas shopping with the children is something all of the volunteers look forward to each year, they realized in Covid times that seniors were also in need. The group has now adopted some "orphan seniors," who are seniors in care facilities with no living relatives or friends.

Operation Brown Bag now purchases over 70 gifts for orphaned seniors every year, with local care facilities reaching out to designate the deserving seniors. Those seniors will ask for everyday items from blankets to hats to lotion to simply new socks. It is a beautiful process because the operation focuses on every stage of need in life, instead of just childhood.

While they do provide aid to children and seniors, they clearly don't forget those in between. Given Strong's position in the courthouse, he is able to see the need elsewhere.

Strong recalls one 16-year-old girl who was at the courthouse in order to be emancipated. When the judge asked her if there was one adult she trusted, she simply replied no, there wasn't one single adult in her life she felt she could trust.

After the judge had emancipated her, Strong gave her his wife's personal cell phone number so they could help her as well. The Strongs began by giving her diapers for her child and food for her dinners, with the hope that the organization can help "renew her faith, not only in humanity but also in her community."

Strong, a very humble and charitable man, shifts all the credit to the work of his volunteers and to God, stating that God simply "drifts our hands to help people in the right place at the right time."

This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Texas charity ensures no child is left without a gift this Christmas