Benton County Charity Embraces Santa Role

Volunteers Lisa Sizemore, from left, Colleen Weigle and Tasha Wilson toss tissues and paper towels into vehicles as families arrive to pick up Christmas presents from Sharing & Caring of Benton County at the Benton County Fairgrounds in Bentonville on Friday December 13, 2013.

Volunteers Lisa Sizemore, from left, Colleen Weigle and Tasha Wilson toss tissues and paper towels into vehicles as families arrive to pick up Christmas presents from Sharing & Caring of Benton County at the Benton County Fairgrounds in Bentonville on Friday December 13, 2013.

Saturday, December 14, 2013

BENTONVILLE — Charles Reed, dressed as Santa Claus and holding a black umbrella, waved while standing between rows of cars trickling through the Benton County Fairgrounds on Friday morning.

It was his fourth year to volunteer at Sharing & Caring of Benton County’s annual distribution day. Though he noted the steady rain created “miserable” conditions, he said he enjoyed the event.

“Just to see the looks on the kids’ faces, it’s great,” said Reed, a Walmart employee.

Sharing & Caring distributed gifts for 4,833 children from 1,865 families Friday, according to Sharon Shepard, the organization’s finance administrator.

The families had to go through an application process in order to participate. Officials verified the families met income requirements.

At A Glance

Holiday Giving

More than 27,000 children have been sponsored through Sharing & Caring of Benton County since 2007. The application process for families begins in mid-October, with sponsors receiving the family’s wish lists later in the month.

Source: Staff Report

Friday’s distribution event, which ran from 7:30 a.m. to midafternoon, involved “quite a few hundred” volunteers, Shepard said. Many were Walmart employees.

Jon Jackson volunteered for the sixth year. Jackson lives in Dallas, but participates in Sharing & Caring because his company does business with Walmart. By 10 a.m., he estimated he had carried at least 30 boxes of presents from the fairgrounds exhibit hall to cars waiting outside.

“This is the best part,” Jackson said. “This charity is helping 5,000 kids have Christmas.”

Each child received up to $100 worth of gifts. They included items such as a bicycle for a small child and an air-hockey table for an older one.

Families also received food, toiletries and other basic necessities provided by companies such as Kimberly-Clark and Sun Products.

Some families were chosen to receive one of 10 laptop computers donated to the program by Acer, which has given computers to the program for nine years, said Irene Medrano, program director. The families didn’t know they were receiving the machines until they arrived to pick up their gifts Friday.

New this year was a donation of 21 Nabis, tablets for children produced by Fuhu. The tablets were given to families with autistic children.

Because the gift sets are arranged in advance for each participating family, distribution day isn't a first-come, first-served event. Every year, however, some families seem to treat it as such.

“Our first person showed up a little after 11 (Thursday) night,” Medrano said. “They park and just go to sleep. And it’s completely unnecessary.”

Ron Medrano, Irene Medrano’s son, said cars were lined up at 4 a.m. Friday. Some people arrive early because they don’t want to spend all morning in line.

“Some have only half a tank of gas,” Ron Medrano said.

Traffic on Southwest Regional Airport Boulevard was backed up for more than a mile east of the fairgrounds about 10 a.m. Friday.

Despite the day’s cold rain, it was far better than what participants would have faced if distribution had been one week earlier when snow and ice nearly paralyzed the region. Postponing the event would have been a logistical nightmare, Irene Medrano said.

“I have no clue what I would have done,” she said. “I’ve got to come up with a plan for inclement weather. We learn something every year. We learned something this year.”

Distribution day is the culmination of a year-round effort that includes numerous fundraisers that support Sharing and Caring.

“It’s amazing when you see the whole thing,” Shepard said. “When you see the families and how grateful they are, it’s unbelievable.”