Published: December 24, 2008 10:35 am      

Abigail's Arms toy drive agency first

Local volunteers and generous donors have done a lot to make Christmas happier for needy Cooke County children.

In addition to Cooke County Littlest Angels which provided assistance for around 600 angels in 250 families, other organizations launched their own service projects for kids facing tough situations.

Angels Care Home Health helped Abigail’s Arms Cooke County Family Crisis Center by holding a toy drive for kids in the agency’s client families.

It was the first year Angels Care employees did the drive.

“This was the first year Angels has done this. Others have done this for us in the past,” said Betty Kay Schlesinger, director for the family violence center.

Schlesinger said the organization maintains a file of families in need and also participates in Santa Cop and Shop with a Cop.

Other organizations such as Cooke County Business and Professional Women collected gifts for the agency’s adult female clients.

The gesture was especially meaningful for the women — many of whom have been in horrifying domestic violence situations, Schlesinger said.

“They gave us house shoes, robes, candles — things to make women feel special and pretty,” she said.

Schlesinger said it is impossible to thank everyone individually for their contributions to Abigail’s Arms.

“There are far too many people (who have contributed) during our annual membership fund drive this time of year for me to begin to thank them all at this time. We cannot function without their monetary donations,” she said.

Others in the community find other ways to help.

Schlesinger said she recently went with a group of law-enforcement officers and representatives from other service agencies on the Shop with a Cop expedition to Wal-Mart Supercenter.

Shop with a Cop is a big deal for the kids involved.

Officers from various agencies pick up the youngsters in police cars and other emergency vehicles and take the kids on a shopping trip to Wal-Mart.

“Wal-Mart provided $100 gift certificates for the kids to use and then gave them a 10 percent discount,” she said.

“The officers bring their vehicles and the kids are in charge of the lights and sirens,” she said.

Schlesinger said she and Oak Ridge Police Chief Janet Van Patton shopped with a teenaged girl whose wish was to buy a box of Queen Anne chocolate-covered cherries for her grandmother.

“I was touched by her request,” she said. “We got the cherries and some other things for her family.”

Many who participate in the Santa Cop or Shop with a Cop projects say the children usually enter the store with one main goal — to buy presents for their loved ones.

“I was so touched by all the kids who wanted to participate and to share the money they had to spend with other members of their families,” she said.

The Gainesville Optimist Club, which always participates in Shop with a Cop, cooked breakfast for the group.

Schlesinger said Stefanie Wallace coordinates the program.

Shirlee Martindale and Sandra Coffee work on both the agency’s annual open house and Shop with a Cop.

Schlesinger said she’s amazed by the generosity of Cooke County residents.

“The outpouring we receive from the citizens of Cooke County is very amazing. I’ve worked in Dallas and Los Angeles and am absolutely awed by how supportive this community is,” she said.

Donations to Abigail’s Arms/Cooke County Family Crisis Center may be mailed to P.O. Box 1221, Gainesville, TX 76241.