Bath Christmas Mother prepares for distribution day

BATH COUNTY, Va. (WDBJ) - You’ll find all sorts of things set aside for the families in the Christmas Mother program: mops and brooms, diapers and clothes, but perhaps most of all, toys.

“We have children in our program who would get nothing if it wasn’t given to them through this program,” said Missy Ailstock, the 2021 Bath Christmas Mother. “We’ve had mothers who didn’t even ask their children what they wanted for Christmas because they didn’t think that they would be able to provide it for them.”

They’re lovingly wrapped and packed, each box double checked before it’s marked ready to go out.

“We have people from all over the community that come to help volunteer,” Ailstock said. “They wrap, they shop, they organize, they do whatever it takes to get it done.”

That’s not to say it’s all about toys. Food packages, enough for over a hundred families, go to everyone, and there’s financial help for heating.

“Those two things are probably the most important, the food and the fuel,” said Ailstock. “The gifts are just extra.”

But an extra that brings more joy to a child and warmth to the heart than any fuel can provide.

“In a time where we see so many bad things happening and the focus is not on all of the good things, this gives our community, even though it’s small, we’re mighty because we all come together to do this for our children and for our families,” Ailstock said.

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