"This Saved Me Every Christmas": Sharing & Caring Provides Gifts To Thousands

Sharing & Caring Provides Gifts To Thousands

STAFF PHOTO BEN GOFF • @NWABenGoff Sarah Semrow tosses paper towels and tissues into a vehicle Friday as volunteers fill vehicles with donated food and household supplies during the Sharing & Caring Benton County holiday gift distribution day at the Benton County Fairgrounds in Bentonville.
STAFF PHOTO BEN GOFF • @NWABenGoff Sarah Semrow tosses paper towels and tissues into a vehicle Friday as volunteers fill vehicles with donated food and household supplies during the Sharing & Caring Benton County holiday gift distribution day at the Benton County Fairgrounds in Bentonville.

BENTONVILLE -- For Cynthia Klipfel, volunteering at Sharing & Caring of Benton County is a way of giving back.

It's not in the typical giving-back-to-the-community sense. For her, it's giving back to the nonprofit organization that helped her and her children through a tough time.

At A Glance (w/logo)

About The Program

Sharing & Caring of Benton County is nonprofit organization focusing on children, lending a helping hand to families that are financially struggling during the holiday season. The program serves these children through the help of sponsors who provide clothing, shoes, a toy and possibly a special need, like a blanket or mittens, for each child.

Source: www.sharingandcarin…

"Two!" Klipfel yelled over her shoulder as she picked up a box of frozen chicken Friday morning at Sharing & Caring's Distribution Day at the Benton County Fairgrounds. "And two more right behind it."

Klipfel, a Walmart employee, was referring to the number of items from each stack of food and household goods each car was to receive. She could tell by the number of slips of paper placed on the windshields.

She was the first stop for vehicles as they came in. She and those at her station loaded boxes of chicken, 22 pounds each, into trunks. Cars would then proceed down the line, picking up food boxes, 10-pound sacks of potatoes, laundry detergent, fabric softener, toilet paper, paper towels, baby wipes and other items provided by companies such as Kimberly-Clark and Sun Products.

They then would continue to another building where more volunteers would distribute toys and gifts specific to their families.

Klipfel was one of those who drove through the line when she first moved to Northwest Arkansas in 2000. The program was a "life saver" for her as moving and being a single mom of five created financial stress.

"This saved me every Christmas until I could get on my feet," she said.

Now on her feet, Klipfel said she volunteers for Sharing & Caring every chance she gets. This is her fourth year to help with Distribution Day.

"For every event that they have, I volunteer for all of it to help Sharing & Caring," she said. "To give back for what they did for me and my kids."

There were 4,289 children in 1,647 families that received gifts this year, according to Irene Medrano, program director.

Sharing & Caring starts distributing information through school counselors about the program in August.

"Who better to know who needs help than our Benton County counselors," Medrano said. "Every school gets it."

Families can then apply in October to be a recipient at Distribution Day in December. There are strict guidelines they must meet, Medrano said.

Sponsors provide products and money for items to be given away, she said. There was $5,000 that was used to buy chicken this year.

"It's amazing what they do every year," Medrano said of the sponsors' generosity. "We're just overwhelmed."

Travis Riggs, a first-year Sharing & Caring board member, helped direct traffic Friday morning. He's volunteered at Distribution Day before, many years ago when it was at the old fairgrounds downtown.

"It's pretty impressive," he said of the current operations. "Look at this line of cars. They've been out here since 10:30 last night, some of these people. They sleep in their cars. Obviously, it's meeting a need in our community."

NW News on 12/13/2014

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