Kingsport companies donate toys to Holston Home kids
By Homer Marcum
GREENEVILLE, Tenn. – When Betty Cook told representatives of two Kingsport companies they could help needy children by donating to Holston Home's Christmas wish list, she did not dream that on Dec. 8 a truckload of gifts would be unloaded for 50 kids.
Cook, Holston Home's coordinator of volunteers, working with Little and Adams and A & L Industrial, couldn't believe it when the companies requested Christmas wish lists for 50 children. But as Christmas drew closer, Cook could believe it. A truckload of gifts – including bicycles, DVD, VCR and CD players, skateboards and TVs – was unloaded in Greeneville.
Tabitha Adams, a human resources representative of Little and Adams, and Michelle Bacon, quality coordinator for A & L Industrial, made the trip to Greeneville along with a company driver, Donnie Ford.
"The gifts speak for themselves. Our employees are very excited about doing this for the children of Holston Home," said Adams, whose grandfather, Tom Little, started both companies in the 1960s. Little and Adams does contract work for Eastman such as cleaning buildings and painting, while A & L Industrial does commercial construction in the Tri-Cities. Both companies employ more than 500 people.
Holston Home tries to provide Christmas gifts for children in its care each year. This year, Holston churches and other groups are providing gifts for more than 200 children, Cook said. "For some of our children, these will be the only Christmas gifts they will receive. We're so appreciative of the unselfish generosity," Cook said.
The gifts were distributed to Holston Home children on the evening of Dec. 17 and several of the Kingsport companies' employees intended to come, officials said. On that evening, in Holston Home's school gym at Beacon School, all the children were honored with a pizza- and banana-split party. Children returned to their cottages at 6:30 p.m. while the adults loaded gifts onto a special farm-tractor pulled wagon with Santa aboard. At 8 p.m., Santa distributed gifts to each child.
Art Masker, president and chief executive officer of Holston Home, said that Little and Adams and A & L Industrial's gifts were "far in excess of anything we ever expected. On behalf of the children, I thank them."
"We're a Christian ministry providing hope and healing for children whose lives have been disrupted, and the donation of multiple gifts for 50 children in our care certainly shows a Christian spirit," Masker said. Both Little and Adams and A & L Industrial are active in the community and participate in a coat drive for people who need them each winter, Adams said. The companies also donate food to people who have fallen on hard times.
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