PhoWB by L?yU Ganns
The Salvation Army's Majors James and Lois Allison pose with Nathan Tabor
(center) and his daughter, Abigail.
Special delivery comes
right on time for
Salvation Army
BY LAYLA GARMS
THE CHRONICLE
Christmas came a little
early for the Salvation
Army of Winston-Salem.
The agency, which is
supporting 2,700 local
families with gifts of toys
and clothes this holiday
season, got a much-needed
donations boost last week
when Nathan Tabor backed
a delivery truck packed
with toys into the Salvation
Army's Christmas
Warehouse on Peters Creek
Parkway.
Tabor is the CEO of
TVC Media and owner of
Country Auto Sales and
several apqrtipent com
plexes, but fcfjKihaps best
known for his work with
the Forsyth County
Republican Party, which he
has led during critical cam
paign seasons. He and his
wife, Jordan, have support
ed a variety of different
efforts both locally and
internationally to ensure
that children have gifts
under their Christmas trees.
"Sixteen years ago, the .
Bible verse 'it's better to v
give than to receive' really
just hit home that, if you're
in a situation where you
can help others in need,
you should. It really just
grew from that," said
Tabor, who has unsuccess
fully run for public office
several times.
In the early years.
Tabor collected toys for
patients at Brenner
Children's Hospital and an
orphanage in the Ukraine.
This is the second year that
the Tabor family has sup
ported the Salvation Army
with in-kind donations of
toys and Bibles, which
Tabor estimates have a
combined value of roughly
?40.000.
The Tabors use a vari
ety of methods to collect
the donations, from organ
izing drives at a handful of
local companies to the
annual Christmas party that
they host at their home,
where the roughly 120
attendees are asked to bring
toys for the campaign. The
Tabor home is known for
its impressive Christmas
lights display, which Tabor
says total more than 125
thousand lights this year.
The family hosts a
Salvation Army red kettle
outside the home at several
points during the season to
help gamer funds for the
agency, and their seven
year old daughter, Abigail,
sometimes sells hot choco
late to benefit the Salvation
Army. Abigail, a second
grader at Noble Academy
in Greensboro, has been a
part of die campaign all her
life.
"That is one of the rea
sons that we really got
heavily involved. We want
ed to teach her that not
everyone has a comfortable
life," Tabor said. "As long
as we have the means and
she has the means, I want
ho- to help others because
you never know when you
might need help."
Ellen Bliven, a
spokesperson for the
Salvation Army, said the
agency depends upon the
generosity of community
members to help it keep die
Toys await distribution at the Christmas Warehouse.
promises it makes to local
families.
? "We take applications,
and we commit to those
families that, 'yes, we're
going to help you,' but then
our next step is a leap of
faith that the community is
going to support us in our
time of need," Bliven said.
"People like Nathan Tabor
make it happen."
Major James Allison,
who took over leadership
of the local agency last
summer, says the Tabor
family's generosity is
indicative of the giving
spirit he has witnessed
throughout the Twin City.
"Winston-Salem is spe
cial, no doubt," declared
Allison, who has served the
agency for more than 35
years. "It's probably the
most giving community
that I've ever had the privi
lege to serve in ... Nathan
is a huge part (of that). He's
one of many partners that
are doing toy chives for us."
TL_ O _? A _r
inc aaivauon /\rmy 01
Winston-Salem is in the
midst of its most ambitious
fundraising program to
date, Allison said. The
agency has set a goal of
raising $450,000 through
the red kettle campaign this
year. As of last week, it was
less than halfway to its
goal, but Allison said he
felt confident that the com
munity would rise to the
occasion before die cam
paign's end on Dec. 24.
"We're so fortunate and
grateful to all of our contin
<3
ual donors who continu
ously step up," he stated.
"The important thing to
remember is there's no
such thing as a small dona
tion because all donations
add to the sum total."
New York City native
Holli Goodwin said she too
has been impressed with
the heart of the Winston
Salem community.
Goodwin relocated to the
Twin City from Georgia
earlier this year with her
six children. The family
spent just over a month in
the Salvation Army Center
of Hope, a shelter for fami
lies, before Goodwin was
able to land a job as a floor
associate at Target and
move her clan into then
own place. The family has
maintained close ties to the
Salvation Army and will be
among those who will
receive toys from the
agency this year.
Allison said anyone
who makes a donation to
the agency is making a dif
ference in die lives of fam
ilies like Goodwin's.
"We can promise you a
good return on your invest
ment: smiling faces, wide,
bright eyes on Christmas
day," he remarked. "What
more can you ask for?"
For more information
about the Salvation Army
or to make a contribution,
visit wwwjalvationarmy
carolinas org/commands/w
inston-salem or call 336
723-6366.
Schools
frompagtAl
"Here in WS/FCS
(Winston-Salem/Forsyth
County Schools), the
safety and security of
your children is of utmost
importance to us. Each
school practiced its lock
down procedures twice a
year," Martin wrote. "We
maintain close relation
ships with the Winston
Salem Police
Department, the Forsyth
County Sheriff's Office
and the Kernersville
Police Department. In
fact, earlier this year we
began revising our safety
manual with their help.
We will review our safety
procedures in light of
what happened in
Newtown to see how they
can be improved."
Many local parents
reported seeing law
enforcement officers at
their children's schools
Monday, a precautionary
measure taken on the first
full day of school since
the tragedy.
Sean Uaiuard, a vet
eran educator and princi
pal of Wiley Middle
School, said preparing
for what is known as a
"critical incident" goes
with the territory of
entering the education
field these days.
"We want teachers to
be trained in the event
that something should
happen," said the city
native. "That is a part of
the job."
Though Gaillard said
he tries to always prepare
for the worst, as a life
long educator and father
of three, he can't help but
be touched by the sense
less killings in Newtown.
"I completely
empathize from the
standpoint of a parent. 1
have children who are
elementary school age,
and my heart just goes
out to the parents of
those kids," Gaillard
remarked. "It's just hard.
You're at a loss for
words. My prayers go out
to the people of that com
munity."
- Gaillard said he has
worked hardHo maintain
a certain level of normal
cy at Wiley in the days
since the massacre.
"My mantra through
all this has been to stay
and remain positive for I
our kids and respond to l
any need that may arise," I
he said. "...We're here to
maintain a positive <
atmosphere and to pro- !
tect all of our children." i
Jefferson Elementary i
School Principal Nora |
Baker, who has spent <
nearly three decades in
education, said she was
deeply touched by the
heairtbreak in Sandy
Hook.
"I am going into
classrooms every day.
Every week, you see
?' us.
mose Kias in uic
hallway and
they greet you
and they hug
you," related
Baker, the
reigning
Winston
Salem/Forsyth
County
Principal of the
Year. "It's much
tougher on me
because I know what
those parents are going
through. I know what
those teachers and those
administrators are going
through because I live it
every day."
Baker said she sent an
email to Jefferson parents
Sunday evening, ensuring
them that the school was
putting safety first and is
keeping all classroom
doors locked this week as
an added precaution.
"I think we just
always have to be on alert
now to anything that's
out of place, anything
that's different in our
school to help keep our
children safe," said the
grandmother of one. "...
I'm saddened that we are
no longer able to be as
trusting of a society
now."
Though Baker said
both parents and school
staff and administrators
are on heightened alert
because of the recent
attacks, she pointed out
that such incidents,
though horrendous, are
few and far between.
"Most educators,
when they come into the
field, they are passionate
sbout teaching children,
they're not thinking, 'I'm
going to get killed in my
classroom,'" she stated.
"I'm hoping people
won't be discouraged
about going into educa
tion because of some
thing like this because
we need good educators.
We need people who are
passionate about teaching
r*hi1rlr#n 99
KBif
4
V1UIVM VII.
Rodney
Ellis, president
of the North
Carolina
Association of
Educators
(NCAE) said the
growing number
of school shoot
ings in recent
years is con
cerning.
"It's troublesome. It's
bothersome that individ
uals are using our public
schools as a grounds of
expressing their frustra
tions, for lack of a better
term," said Ellis, a former
Winston-Salem
Preparatory Academy
teacher. ^Schools often
times are considered the
one safe haven for stu
dents. It's so mind bog
gling that those kids had
to suffer for an individ
ual's frustration."
Ellis said the Sandy
Hook tragedy should be a
wakeup call for all those
in the education field.
"The clear message
here is we have to do a
better job of listening to
our kids and letting them
explain what the issues
are," he said. "...Our
thoughts and prayers go
out to the victims. We
just have to figure out a
way to address the needs
of young people who are
going through challeng
ing times."
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