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It’s a wonderful thing.
That’s what some children here will be proclaiming this Christmas when they receive a present under their tree through the efforts of Big R.
And for many of these children, it could be the only present they will receive.
Sid Ducharme, who has been manager of the Big R store in La Junta for the past three months, said he talked to the employees about helping the community collect toys for the needy families in the community.
After some discussion, Ducharme and bookkeeper Kathy Bender came up with the idea of having a Christmas tree on display with ornaments with specific information about the children in need in this area.
The project is called, “It’s a Wonderful Thing.”
The anonymous children, who have all been identified by the La Junta schools, are described on the ornament by age, gender and clothing size.
People in the community can pick an ornament from the tree and shop for Christmas presents for that child. People can shop in Big R — which has a number of items on display as suggested gifts for children — or in any other store and return the merchandise to Big R to be wrapped and distributed to the schools that will then distribute the gifts to the children.
If someone doesn’t have time to shop, they can put money toward a gift card and employees will do the shopping for them.
“We are so pleased with the response from the customers,” Ducharme said.
Originally, Big R talked about providing gifts for 25 children. After discussion with the school district they identified 78 children in need of gifts for the holiday season.
“In the last two days, we have enough gifts for 25 children,” Ducharme said. “This is so neat to see this going on. It’s a feeling … well, I can’t even describe it.”
The deadline to purchase gifts is Dec. 16. Big R is open from 8 a.m to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.
“It doesn’t need to stop here,” Ducharme said about turning this into an annual event, as well as doing other holiday programs. “It feels too good to stop here.”
It’s a wonderful thing.
That’s what some children here will be proclaiming this Christmas when they receive a present under their tree through the efforts of Big R.
And for many of these children, it could be the only present they will receive.
Sid Ducharme, who has been manager of the Big R store in La Junta for the past three months, said he talked to the employees about helping the community collect toys for the needy families in the community.
After some discussion, Ducharme and bookkeeper Kathy Bender came up with the idea of having a Christmas tree on display with ornaments with specific information about the children in need in this area.
The project is called, “It’s a Wonderful Thing.”
The anonymous children, who have all been identified by the La Junta schools, are described on the ornament by age, gender and clothing size.
People in the community can pick an ornament from the tree and shop for Christmas presents for that child. People can shop in Big R — which has a number of items on display as suggested gifts for children — or in any other store and return the merchandise to Big R to be wrapped and distributed to the schools that will then distribute the gifts to the children.
If someone doesn’t have time to shop, they can put money toward a gift card and employees will do the shopping for them.
“We are so pleased with the response from the customers,” Ducharme said.
Originally, Big R talked about providing gifts for 25 children. After discussion with the school district they identified 78 children in need of gifts for the holiday season.
“In the last two days, we have enough gifts for 25 children,” Ducharme said. “This is so neat to see this going on. It’s a feeling … well, I can’t even describe it.”
The deadline to purchase gifts is Dec. 16. Big R is open from 8 a.m to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.
“It doesn’t need to stop here,” Ducharme said about turning this into an annual event, as well as doing other holiday programs. “It feels too good to stop here.”
