AFTER HOURS: Celebrating local traditions
Fort Valley native Anita Ponder grew up in a large family with a mother who believed in the proverbial "groaning board" for Christmas dinner -- enough food for a hungry football team, according to her daughter.
In 1995, Ponder suggested, to her sisters, sharing the leftovers with needy families in her hometown, an idea that has grown to a communitywide celebration at the Terminal Station on Christmas Day.
This year at the Anita Ponder & Friends Holiday Feast, more than 1,500 people indulged in turkey, ham and all the favorite side dishes; danced to the music of the Party Man, also known as Shawn Hill; enjoyed the luxury of a haircut or new style and selected toys for the children.
Each year, Ponder an event director Sandra Bryant ask that volunteers and supporters for the festival consider helping Santa Claus with the toys he can't add to his bulging bag of goodies. Almost 600 bicycles were donated to the eye-popping array of toys on Dec. 25, when several generous elves added electronic devices for the older children.
The entire celebration is funded by individuals, organizations and area businesses that continue to share their time and encourage their friends to join the festive camaraderie in giving back to the community.
FOOD ON THE TABLE AND COMFORT FOR THE CHILDREN
Loaves and Fishes, a local faith-based ministry led by development director Mary Gatti, is supported by churches, volunteers, civic clubs, schools, organizations and businesses. Like Mary Alice Webb, a board member and parishioner at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, and Janet Wheeler, deacon at Christ Episcopal Church, many of the cheerleaders for the nonprofit leave baskets in their churches for donations of dried and canned foods, which are given to clients at the Jack Steppe Day Life Center on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
Since Christmas is a time of critical need, overflowing baskets were repeatedly delivered to headquarters during the Christmas season, to be part of the solution for feeding and clothing the homeless and the families unable to afford these necessities.
As a young teenager, Maggie Webb was inspired by her mother's hard work for Loaves and Fishes to initiate the "Maggie Bears" project at St. Paul's church. The project collects teddy bears to be given to children during Christmas, a tradition that continues even though Webb is now an adult.
By mid-December, the back pews of the church were crowded with a fine selection of cuddly and handsome bears, which became best friends with little children who most needed special buddies.
THE NEED FOR HELP NEVER SLEEPS
Loaves and Fishes Ministry sponsors fundraisers during the year to support homeless shelters, child care, personal services and programs that educate their clients in self-sufficiency, responsibility and accountability.
Volunteers arrange clothes in the rooms where free wardrobes are available; teams from local schools and churches come to the headquarters to distribute sack lunches for homeless men and women; and local grocery stores supplement the non-perishable foods in the closet with fresh seasonal vegetables and fruits, supplying components of a balanced diet that most of their clients cannot afford or do not have the facility to store.
Because of his distress about a house left beyond repair and the family that had been displaced, local firefighter and home inspector Joe Allen founded Kids Yule Love in 1986 to collect toys and other Christmas gifts for children in Macon and Warner Robins.
The program has grown to provide Christmas bounty for Seniors Yule Love, Letters to Santa, Kids School Tools to buy supplies for students and smoke detectors for low income homes. Allen's dream to bring joy to less fortunate children has expanded to serve 24 central Georgia counties, all represented by enthusiastic volunteers of all ages who collect and deliver gifts with the energy of sleepless children on Christmas Eve.
This Christmas, Allen added a caveat to the application for gifts -- applicants must volunteer two hours during the holiday season at any nonprofit organization in order to receive help.
Although figures for the number of individuals served in December are not final, Allen's tireless efforts and his support for those who believe in his program and donate gifts are not dampened for the 2016 campaign.
All of the organizations covered in this column are locally driven initiatives. During 2016, become acquainted with any of them -- or the long list of other charities -- and offer to help. No one has ever complained about too many volunteers or too much money!
Katherine Walden is a freelance writer and interior designer in Macon. Contact her at 478-742-2224 or kwaldenint@aol.com.
This story was originally published January 2, 2016 at 4:26 PM with the headline "AFTER HOURS: Celebrating local traditions ."