Just “Presents” for Christmas

This little girl is happy because the people of Grace Baptist Church in Knoxville were endowed with the Christmas spirit. Every year Morgan-Scott, in cooperation with churches, individuals, and other social service agencies in the area, does its best to make sure that every child in Morgan and Scott counties receives Christmas presents. In 2011 over 1,000 families were given Christmas gifts for their children. Sometimes groups want to do something special.

This year Morgan-Scott Board member Crystal Cromwell’s Sunday School class at Grace Baptist Church wanted to adopt a family for Christmas. MSP Director Ella Smith and her assistant, Lori Brock, chose two families for them. The families consisted of twin sisters, married to men who work hard every day in a local sawmill for minimum wage or below. They have three children between them. They buy all of their clothes at the MSP Thrift Store. They are very appreciative when MSP helps them with food, diapers, cleaning supplies, garden seeds, plants, fertilizer, or school supplies.

When asked what they would like for Christmas, the ladies asked for foot powder and long underwear to keep their husbands warm this winter, detergent and personal hygiene items for themselves, and just “presents” for the children to open on Christmas morning. The people from Grace came through in style with the things they asked for plus many gifts and food for a Christmas dinner, including a turkey.

Thank you, Grace Baptist, for your generosity in making this a special Christmas for two deserving families.

Article by Ella Smith and Ray Boles

Phyllis – Paying It Forward

Phyllis and Ella

The most rewarding aspect of giving someone a hand up is seeing that person stand on his or her own two feet, become a solid member of the community, and start to help other people themselves. This concept became known as “paying it forward” after the book, “Pay It Forward” by Catherine Hyde Ryan and the subsequent movie of the same name.

Phyllis is a young mother who was one of the first people helped by the MSP New Light Program, which is designed to help jobless people learn skills that make them employable (see our article “Phyllis – A Success Story for the New Light Program”, July 11, 2009). With the support of Morgan-Scott Project, Phyllis enrolled at the Tennessee Technology Center, graduated in May of 2009 and passed her state boards to become a Licensed Practical Nurse. She then found a job doing private duty nursing for a company in Clinton, TN. It was a long and difficult journey for Phyllis, whose income was only $200 a month when she first came to us, needing help with an electric bill, but Phyllis set a goal for herself and her family, and was determined to succeed.

Just before Christmas, we heard again from Phyllis. She is now remarried, enrolled at Roane State Community College, and working toward her RN (Registered Nurse) during the week, while continuing to work as an LPN on weekends. Her effort has inspired her oldest son, who has set as his goal to become a doctor, and has mapped out his plans for the next 10 years.

She contacted us because she wanted to help a needy family at Christmas. We picked a family with six children, three of whom are “throw away” children that were adopted by a caring couple with three children of their own (see our article “Social Agencies Cooperate to Help Family, Foster Children”, August 12, 2010). She lovingly bought them a gift for the whole family, a Wii, a luxury that they never could have afforded themselves.

This successful lady is testimony to the New Light Program’s belief that people who have seemingly lost hope can regain their self-respect and become contributing members of the community when trained in a useful and fulfilling vocation. She is an example that we hope all of our New Light graduates will emulate.

Article by Ella Smith and Ray Boles