GREENFIELD — Angela Lewis, Indianapolis, stood in the sheep barn at the Hancock County 4-H Fairgrounds on Christmas Eve morning with two fishing rods for her grandsons and dolls for her granddaughters.
Lewis takes care of her grandchildren, whose mother passed away, and was able to get gifts for them because of a communitywide, year-round donation effort. She held bags filled with clothes and blankets for her grandchildren as well.
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“It makes me feel great, because otherwise they wouldn’t have but a gift or two apiece and that’s it,” she said. “I work, but it just pays the bills. These people are wonderful; they’re really nice in here.”
She was talking about the volunteers behind A Day of Love and Caring 2019, organized by God’s Open Arms ministry. Tables covered the floor of the barn, filled with clothes and toys arranged by age and gender. Later, a meal would serve hundreds in the fairgrounds’ Sarah Burke 4-H Exhibit Hall. There would also be visits from Santa Claus, the three wise men, the Grinch, violinists and cloggers.
It was the seventh year for the event and the sixth under the name God’s Open Arms. Peggy Couch, who co-founded the ministry with her husband, Dean, said the ministry and the Kenneth Butler Memorial Soup Kitchen in downtown Greenfield collect donations for the event and other initiatives all year long.
“Our primary focus is financially challenged families and homeless,” Couch said.
When families arrived, they checked in and spoke to a volunteer about the ages, genders, clothing sizes and interests of their children. They were then assigned a personal shopper to accompany them and help match their lists with the available donations.
Morgan Thomas was one of the event’s personal shoppers.
“It’s been a blast,” she said as she helped a woman shop for her three children at one of the tables covered in jeans. “You can just see everybody’s smiles. It’s just a happy place.”
Tuesday was Thomas’ first time volunteering in the initiative.
“There’s a lot of people that come together, and it’s a whole community effort,” she said. “It’s a community coming together, which is why Greenfield’s so special, because we have each other’s backs.”
Alexis Cooper of Connor’s Caring Hands dropped off several large boxes filled with gift baskets for kids. She named the initiative after her brother, who passed away from medical complications shortly after he was born. Connor’s Caring Hands puts together and delivers gift baskets for patients in children’s hospitals throughout Indiana and at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, over the holiday season.
“It really opens your heart to know so many people are not self-centered and they’re thinking about the kids,” Couch said while volunteers unloaded the basket-brimming boxes. “That’s what we need to do. If we want this next generation to have kind, loving hearts, we have to teach them how to be, and our example is what makes it happen.”
Ty Hunt, director of nutritional services at Hancock Regional Hospital, smoked the turkeys and pork loins donated for A Day of Love and Caring’s meal. Couch said Hunt and his helpers would prepare about 500 meals, plus an extra 100 for God’s Open Arms’ regular deliveries later in the week.
Last year, the event drew 350 families who got gifts for more than 500 children, Couch said, adding between 550 and 600 meals were served, including carry-out and deliveries.
She said volunteers told her Tuesday morning that the number of families wanting to shop appeared to be down from last year.
“But that’s OK; we will still continue to bless as many as we can,” Couch said.
Volunteers could always get on the phone later and reach out to local churches for tips on families in need, she continued.
Couch said leftover women’s clothing will go to the Redefined Hope Boutique at Hope Center Indy, a facility that helps women exiting sex trafficking. Leftover toys will provide a head start on A Day of Love and Caring 2020, she added.
Troy Hoffman, Greenfield, said the perceived lower turnout may have a silver lining — less of a need for help this holiday season.
“On the one hand it’s a little disappointing, but on the other hand, it’s good,” he said.
Hoffman has volunteered in the initiative since its start and has watched it grow.
“Over the years we’ve been pulling everyone together,” he said. “It’s just a big community effort.”
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