Southwood Elementary School has been both the grateful recipient of financial help from The Commercial’s Christmas Card Fund and a proud donor, an official said.
“The Christmas Card Fund is something that has a longstanding history in the Pine Bluff School District,” said Southwood Principal Alfred Carroll. “It has always been a plus for our students, including the ability to secure uniforms, being able to help with eyeglasses and that sort of thing.”
The fund has been a program that has bridged the gap, brought joy to kids and helped parents, the principal said.
“A lot of times kids will have things that they are in need of, their family will lose items in a fire, they may be in a shelter or in transition, situations where families find themselves hard-pressed to secure the things that they need,” Carroll said.
“We probably have our whole front entrance way covered with the certificates of individuals who have contributed to the fund,” Carroll said. “We are well on our way to reaching the $400 mark and that’s just the halfway point.”
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Teachers are realizing that the fund can ease tensions in families, he said.
“Sometimes we have kids who are acting out or acting negatively in class and it turns out it is because they need glasses and are frustrated because they can’t see properly. Once we are able to get glasses for them from the Christmas Card Fund donations their attitude changes and we start to see improvement,” he said.
“We have kids who bring in their dollars, their 50 cents and their pennies,” Carroll said. “You can see the same sense of joy and fulfillment in helping someone else on the faces of everybody who contributes.”
Since 1987, The Commercial has raised thousands of dollars for students in the Pine Bluff, Watson Chapel, Dollarway and White Hall school districts. The newspaper doesn’t keep any of the funds, but distributes all the money to the schools for them to help children and even entire families in need.
As of Thursday, the Christmas Card Fund had received just under $3,000.
To give readers extra time to help, the newspaper extended the deadline for people to give to this annual fundraiser. Donors who give at least $1 by 5 p.m. Dec. 20 will have their names printed on a Christmas card in the newspaper that will be published Dec. 24.
Donations may be made to the Christmas Card Fund, c/o The Pine Bluff Commercial, P.O. Box 6469, Pine Bluff, AR, 71611, or brought to the newspaper office located at 300 S. Beech St.