Church to give away toys for the needy

 By Ken Buday
Freedom ENC
HAVELOCK - What began as a way to help hurricane victims has become a Christmas tradition at Cherry Point Church of Christ.
The annual toy giveaway for the needy is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at the church on Shipman Road.
"It gets bigger every year," said Ruth Jackson, a church member and one of the organizers of the event. "We have more toys this year, lots of Barbies, stuffed animals and stocking stuffers."
Jackson said volunteers buy toys and acquire used toys as well. They clean and refurbish them, and then package them to give away to needy families for the holidays.
"It's a mixture of new and used toys, but 75 to 80 percent are used toys that have been refurbished," Jackson said.
She said an effort started after Hurricane Floyd in 1999 to provide toys to storm victims. It grew to include sending toys off to distant places as part of Church of Christ Disaster Relief. The group decided to keep some of the toys in Havelock to help the needy during the holidays.
Jackson said the church has about 4,000 packages that contain a total of about 10,000 toys and stocking stuffers, all of which are free.
She said she expects a large crowd when the doors open Saturday.
"Last year was tremendous," she said. "We figure we'll have more people this year the way the economy is."
For more information on the Church of Christ toy giveaway, call Jackson at 444-4083.