1/3/07

Three families get special outreach for Christmas
By Jerriod Grizzle

ERIC GOOLD/Manning Times

Niasia Johnson (lower right) eats lunch while members of the Jackson family look at their gifts from the Clarendon County Detention Center Friday, Dec. 21. Three families were selected to receive a special Christmas from the CCDC.

Alice Hyde, Ruby Johnson and Nedrea Jackson never thought they would be sitting in the Clarendon County Detention Center for Christmas.

Hyde, Johnson and Jackson, along with their families were honored Friday as the three families picked for the agency’s Helping Hands program.

The program put on by the Department of Social Services and the CCDC aims to help under privileged and struggling families to have a special Christmas for themselves and for their children.

“Several years ago, the department decided that we wanted to do something on an annual basis to reach out to the community,” said Detention Center Director Col. Sheldon Hughes.

DSS provides a list to the CCDC every Christmas and two to three families are picked based on need.
“We go through and try to select a diverse group of families,” he said. “We get some type of clothing, a coat, to get the kids through the winter. We also get toys and other gift items for the families.”

Over a lunch of fried chicken, roast beef, yellow rice, beans and cake, the three families said they were very grateful to be receiving this special Christmas gift.

Hyde, a mother of four and an employee of the Holiday Inn said that this year, Christmas would mean something more.

“It gives us a little bit more of the Christmas spirit,” she said. “Christmas means to me spending time with family and friends, my children and my father,” she said.

Johnson, a mother of three who works with the Sanitation Department and Nedrea Jackson both said that this Christmas will give both of them a boost about holiday cheer.

“It makes you feel good and it was a big surprise,” they said.

Johnson said that she might even try to hide away some of the presents from the CCDC so her children can have something to open on Christmas day.

“The only thing I have to watch out for is keeping the presents away from my youngest one,” she said smiling.

One of Johnson’s daughters, Kayla, is seven months pregnant and had a different outlook on the holidays. She said she has something else to be thankful for.

“This year I am so thankful for my family, for them being there for me and for my unborn child,” she said.

All of the children received a sack full of toys. Ripping into their bags, none of the children were waiting until Christmas morning to open their gifts, too overjoyed at the prospect of having something to play with.

“It’s great,” said Frances Rodriguez, Alice Hyde’s daughter. Rodriguez received a Barbie doll. With her cheeks almost instantly rosy, she couldn’t wait to show off the toy to her brothers.

Thanks to the CCDC, three families will have an extra boost this Christmas.