LUMBERTON — Families who were driven from their homes by Hurricane Florence received an early Christmas present on Tuesday.
With the help of a $10,000 grant, Community In Schools of Robeson County threw a holiday party for 57 children and 35 parents living in motels or who have recently moved from motels. The party at Bill Sapp Recreation Center on Tuesday was complete with a meal catered by Kendra’s Kitchen, a photo booth, arts and crafts, and a DJ who played Christmas songs.
The biggest gift was the open store from which parents could select Christmas presents for their children. While the children were occupied with the festivities, parents were taken to a room to pick out $100 worth of gifts for each child to open on Christmas Day. The gifts included headphones, balls, scooters, dolls, puzzles and more.
“They wake up on Christmas morning to gifts from Santa,” said Dencie Lambdin, the executive director of CIS. “It’ll be a nice Christmas.”
Hurricane Florence victim Patricia Fox said the party was the bright spot during a period of loss.
“I’m not able to go back to my home. It’s unlivable now,” Fox said.
Fox, a bookkeeper for the Public Schools of Robeson County and student at The University of North Carolina at Pembroke, and has lived in Lumberton for the past 27 years. Her home in South Lumberton was damaged by hurricanes Matthew and Florence.
“This is the second time for me,” Fox said. “It was a year to the day Florence came through, I had been back into my home. It’s devastating.”
After Florence, she moved to Fayetteville but could not take the commute to and from work, and moved back to Lumberton.
“It’s part of life and life goes on,” Fox said. “God has something better for me. We don’t see it but I feel he has something better for me.”
For Fox, the holiday party has been a way to have one less burden to deal with and to connect with people sharing a similar experience.
“This is nice,” Fox said. “I get to meet other people that were in the flood just like me, and are in the same predicament that I’m in.”
Jackeitha Dickerson will soon move into her new home, but for now, she shares a room with her four children, ages 10, 9, 8 and 6. Dickerson’s home off N.C. 72 was flooded and all of its contents destroyed.
“Being in a room with four children and starting all over with clothes and shoes has just been ridiculous,” Dickerson said.
Events like the Christmas party and support from various organization are what helped her make it through, Dickerson said.
“There are people out there that are still good, that still care enough to do things for the less fortunate,” Dickerson said while close to tears. “It’s been great.”
BreAnna Branch, the CIS of Robeson County’s program director and student support specialist at Carroll Middle School, wrote the grant application and coordinated the party. Branch said CIS targeted families that are displaced and living in motels because of the inconvenience of spending a holiday in the close quarters. The Public Schools of Robeson County assisted in locating 60 children that still were in motels.
“These are specifically children that are in the hotels and that are in the campers,” Branch said. “We tried to focus on the ones that are not going to have Christmas dinner and not going to have gifts.”
Branch said the party also gives children and parents the chance get out of the motels and spend time with other people.
“There’s different toy giveaways and things like that so we really wanted to add a different Christmas,” Branch said.
CIS was one of 20 recipients of the Foundation for the Carolina’s Hurricane Florence Response Fund, a $750,000 fund that assists nonprofits working with victims of Hurricane Florence.
The money for the fund was provided by donors that included Michael Jordan.
The next grant cycle for nonprofits to apply for the Hurricane Florence Response Fund will be in late January. For more information go the website at www.fftc.org.
