Families get help with toys
BY TODD LUCK
THE CHRONICLE
For those who have fallen
on hard times, the holidays can
be especially difficult.
The traditional big family
meals and gift giving can be
very difficult for those who
can barely pay their bills.
That's why every year. The
Salvation Army gives toys and
food to local families in need
to make their holiday a little
merrier. A former Salvation
Army Thrift Store on
Patterson Avenue was trans
formed into a holiday wonder
land last week, complete with
Christmas trees and an inflat
able Santa. Thousands of toys
were laid across tables for par
ents to choose from, all of
them donated by the commu
nity.
Helping to process the long
line at the door was Major
Donna Israel, an area com
mander with the Salvation
Army. Every 15 minutes at
least 15 families went through
to pick out toys. She said that
the payment she receives in
smiles, hugs and sometimes
even tears makes the work
worth it.
"A lot of. them, it's very
difficult to ask for help,
they're very appreciative when
they get their gifts," said
Israel.
Dozens of volunteers par
ticipated during all four days
of the giveaway. On Friday. 30
U.S. Airways employees lent
their time to the cause. One
was Colista Ramseur-Green.
She volunteered from open to
close, helping many parents
through the' gift selection
process. She said it was her
first year volunteering with the
toy giveaway, but it won't be
- her last.
"This has just been a true
joy to me," said Ramseur
Green. "Just to give my time,
to give to those who are less
fortunate than me."
This year 1,800 families
with 8,000 children picked out
gifts. Families were chosen
based on income and the num
ber of children. Among those
who got toys for their children
was Celestine Simon, who
also got toys last year.
Simon, a single mother of
three, was laid off last year
from her job at a printing com
pany. She's found new
employment at a fast food
joint but the pay cut between
the two jobs has been drastic:
from $800 every two weeks to
barely $400 now. She said
she's very grateful for the free
gifts.
"It's0 just hard to be able to
afford rent now," said Simon.
"Any little extra you can get
that can help to make sure they
have something under the tree
is helpful."
A volunteer with a shop
ping cart escorted Simon
through the toy area and
helped her pick out two toys
each for her two youngest girls
(only children up to 14 years
old qualify, her oldest daughter
is 17) . A wide variety of gifts
were available including
movies, dolls, stuffed animals
and games. At the end, she
spun a game show style wheel
for an extra family gift. Last
year, Simon was lucky enough
to get a bike for one of her
girls. This year she got a board
game.
Then a box of food and a
half gallon of milk was put in
her cart. Inside the box was a
canned ham with canned veg
etables that will make a fine
Christmas dinner. At the end,
volunteers offered odds and
ends like wrapping paper and
batteries for electronic toys.
"This is a wonderful pro
gram, I think without them a
whole lot of people woqld end
up having long faces," said
Simon "It's not about the gifts,
but you can't explain that to a
kid."
Simon said that she has her
resume at various temp agen
cies and Web sites and has got
ten a response from an
employer on a temp-to-hire
job, so she's hopeful about the
0 new year.
r T?vi
?!r's
Photos by Todd Luck
Celestine Simon picks toys with volunteer helper Amy Mills.
Major Donna Israel
Colista Ramseur-Green
Johnson
from page A2
truck with a guy in it with a
shotgun and tum his back on
him?"
Clark said he's also not
sure if Billey was outside the
truck when the deputy
approached him or was asked
to step out of the vehicle
before asking him to return to
his vehicle so he could run his
license.
"It matters if the deputy
was pursuing Johnson on a 9 1 1
burglary call or minor traffic
violation. Police procedure
would dictate he act different
ly," noted Clark. There are also
reports that shots were heard
in the same area on the morn
ing Johnson died.
At the request of George
County Sheriff Garry Weford,
the Mississippi Bureau of
Investigation is looking into
Johnson's death. George
County District Attorney Tony
Lawrence has thus far refused
to meet with the NAACP to
discuss the case. Lawrence has
met with the Johnson family to
inform them that the investiga
tion will be completed in
January and the case presented
to a grand jury in February.
Clark concluded, "The
NAACP wants to ensure that
this case is not swept under the
rug. We're going to make sure
the D.A. does a thorough
investigation."
Hair
from page A 2
Chicago-native Johnny Wright
of Frederic Fekkai's Los
Angeles salon.
If an out-of-towner gets the
assignment, it would disap
point locals like Cober-Blake,
lawyer-tumed-owner of D.C.'s
Soul Day Spa and Salon. The
37-year-old said she's excited
about the possibility of having
Obama experience the services
at Soul, where she said they
"treat everyone like a Michelle
Obama."
Harley, of Keith Harley
Hair & Scalp Clinic in
Arlington, Virginia, submitted
his resume a month ago.
"It would be the highlight
of my career," said 39-year
old Harley, who styles such
high-profile Washington
women as Debra Lee, chief
executive officer of Black
0
Entertainment Television. "It
would be an honor."
And like her fashion,
Obama's hairstyles probably
will be scrutinized, as has been
the case with other first ladies.
"The thing about being the
first lady, you're only as fash
ionable as your last picture,"
said Dennis Roche, 58, of
Washiifgton's Roche Salon,
which has ethnic hair experts
that he said could style
Obama. "This is kind of risky
because of the fact that we all
have bad hair days."
Eversley
from page A1
but for all the students," she
declared. "Hopefully he'll
bring some new ideas, new
strategies and new concepts
to help the Conference ful
fill its mission."
Eversley says he is lock
ing forward to leading an
organization he has long
respected.
"Our local Ministers
Conference is probably one
of the strongest in the state
of North Carolina," he com
mented. "There's a core
group of people who have
belonged to it for a very long
time. It has roots in almost
legendary Winston-Salem
names."
Awell known activist,
Eversley feels at home in an
organization that so ably
reflects his oAvn values.
"The Ministers
Conference has always been
a prophetic voice," he said,
citing its involvement in the
Darryl Hunt case as one qf
its most important achieve
ments. "Almost every cut
ting edge movement that's
happened in the 26 and-a
half years since I've been
here. The Ministers
Conference has been
involved."
Eversley says the
Conference will continue to
support Kalvin Michael
Smith, who was sentenced to
29 years in prison in 1995 in
connection with the savage
and near fatal beating of Silk
Plant Forest Employee Jill
Marker. Smith maintains his
innocence, as do the
Conference and many others
in the community.
"We're going to continue
working with the Darryl
Hunt Project (for Freedom
and Justice) and Mothers for
Justice to get some justice
for Kalvin Michael Smith."
he declared .
Eversley also plans to
revive North Carolina Black
Churches for North Carolina
Black Colleges, a project he
once spearheaded to raise
money for HBCUs in North
Carolina. The unsuccessful,
$11 million undertaking will
be reintroduced on a smaller
monetary scale, Eversley
said.
He plans to form an advi
sory board of past Ministers
Conference presidents who
can help him properly guide
the organization, he said.
Bringing younger pastors
into the fold will be a chief
initiative for Eversley, 51.
"One of the things I
intend to do is very contien
tiously go after a lot of the
newer and younger pastors
that have come to this
town," he remarked. "I want
them to feel responsible for
becoming the voice of the
black church."
File Phoin
Rev. Carlton Eversley speaks at a Ministers Conference
O news conference.
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