As Christmas rounds the corner, so does something else: hope. The community is becoming involved in different types of Christmas organizations.

Sunday, Dec. 4, Decatur Women’s Club hosted Tour of Homes.

“Tour of Homes is our major fundraiser for the year. All of the money made goes toward Meals on Wheels and W.A.R.M.,” said Decatur Women’s Club member Anna Wallace.

Meals on Wheels provides home-delivered services to people in need and W.A.R.M. is a local food shelter. Any citizen that wanted to go look at Christmas lights and decorations around town paid $15 in order to get the locations of each home and The First United Methodist Church. The tree in the Methodist Church stood proudly in the front.

“On the tree, there are only two colors: white and gold,” said First United Methodist Church member Barbara Haley. “White represents purity and gold represents Christ’s divinity.”

Haley describes hope and faith in the meaning of Christmas. To Bealls, it means something a little different.

“The donation jars by the cash registers goes to unfortunate kids around Wise County,” said Bealls employee Leslie Hoffman.

The kids are transported to the Bealls in Decatur, Texas by the organization that recommends Bealls of which children should come.

“The kids get to come in and check themselves out,” said Bealls employee Arturo Martinez. “Each child gets $175 to spend on clothing they want.”

The funding comes from Bealls and Paradise Clothing Fund. The donations are received so that the community has a chance to allow even more kids to come in and buy their own Christmas outfit or gift.

“We usually have around 50 children who come in for the Christmas program,” said assistant manager Sherry Gentry.

Of course, this isn’t the only Bealls that is important in the holiday. In front of Walmart, FFA rings the Salvation Army bells.

“Or FFA chapter is in every way active in our community,” said senior Cruz Niblett.

Each day, volunteers or community groups ring The Salvation Army bells in front of Walmart. On Tuesday, Dec. 7, The Decatur 4-H club took a shift of two hours in 27° F.

“I noticed that kids begged their parents to put money in the pot even though we weren’t dressed up as Santa,” said junior Brittney Hubbard. “I thought that was awesome and I wish everyone had the same enthusiasm about it as those little kids.”

As customers walked in and out of the sliding doors, many paused to just reach into their pocket and drop loose change into the red bucket.

I learned that even the smallest things, like ringing the bell for a few hours, helps a ton,” said Hubbard.

Inside the community

I think community events are absolutely fantastic. Everyone acts as one to help make a difference. And isn’t that the gift of giving? To work together and give somebody something amazing? I personally took the Tour of Homes and felt so proud that our community was using the money (that they could have kept) to feed hungry mouths. And ringing the bell myself was an experience I will never forget. Seeing the children wave at me then ask if they could ring the bell too just melted my heart.

While I was interviewing for this story at Walmart, a little girl walked up to me and asked me what I was doing. I squat down and replied that I was interviewing for The High School Newspaper. The girl, looking at me, asked me why. I replied that the story was about community service. As her mom walked up beside us, the little girl asked one more question. “What is community service?” I told the little girl that it was any act of kindness toward others or the city. As the mom and girl walked off hand-in-hand, I overheard the little girl telling her mom what community service was.

Truth is, that some people (including me) don’t have the time to commit to community service or that they don’t know how to help. You can do something as simple as picking up trash or something as grand as giving away $250 to needy kids. Anyone can help, big or small, the community. No matter the act or amount, it is always better to give than receive.