"I painted a reindeer," said Jackson Smith. "I gave him a brown head, and a red nose."
Last week, after the club's Christmas party, Smith and Byron Gaddy helped carry load after load of brightly wrapped presents to teacher Patsy Blue's car. They took armfuls at a time, making trip after trip from where the packages lay piled up beneath the branches of a decorated tree in the middle of the school stage, and stacked them in her sport utility vehicle.
"We spent $390 on the presents," Gaddy said. "Our club sponsored two Empty Stocking Fund families. One of the kids wanted a football, and one wanted a basketball. We used the rest of the $500 to buy food."
The work of these young Rotarians is only one of many acts of kindness and compassion spreading through the northern part of the county from Carthage to Robbins.
An appeal from the Northern Moore Family Resource Center (NMFRC) brought offers of help.
Andrew Young of Raleigh has worked with former Sen. John Edwards, who grew up in Robbins. Mickey Brown, the mayor of Robbins, received a call from Young's wife asking for an unusual donation.
"Cheri Young, Andrew Young's wife, was one of the audience members on Oprah a few weeks ago who received $1,000 and then turned it into more than $30,000 in cash and gifts to help the children of military families," Brown said. "I know them, and she called me and I asked could she or would she help here. She has started and has raised money in conjunction with Clare Ruggles at Northern Moore Family Resource Center to help needy children here."
Ruggles has decorated the new home of NMFRC in bright and friendly "Little Tikes" colors. Northern Moore Tomorrow meets there. She comes into contact with many areas of great need in the upper part of Moore County.
"Oh, man!" Ruggles said. "It is heartbreaking. We are still collecting money. Today I bought food for six families. I know at least one of them did not have food at Thanksgiving."
She got a call from Young, who had accepted Brown's challenge and has been rounding up offers of help.
"Cheri Young and her sister -- I think she lives in St. Louis -- took a trip to Chicago together and went to see a taping of the Oprah Winfrey show," Ruggles said. "Oprah gave each audience member a thousand dollars and challenged them to go out and do some good with it."
The theme of that show was paying forward. Young had given some money to Interact of Wake County, more to families at UNC Hospitals and military families at Fort Bragg.
"They both used it as leverage to raise more money," Ruggles said. "Cheri raised money to buy Christmas for some Fort Bragg families. She asked Mickey to donate, and he said he'd want it to stay here, where we were trying to provide clothing for kids."
Brown gave Young a list of potential donors, and she started making calls, telling them about Oprah and the challenge and what had been done so far.
"A lot made donations," Ruggles said. "Pete Kakouris who owns Carolina Fried Chicken gave $1,000. I was astounded, and gratified."
NMFRC used lists of needy families obtained through many sources.
"We have things for people at all five schools, based on information guidance counselors gave us," she said. "We are not the only organization that has done things. The Salvation Army has families they help. A bridge club down in Southern Pines read about our trying to provide for families in need up here and took money from their treasury to match donations from members to buy clothes for a dozen kids or more."
The families and children being helped are not identified by name. Each was represented on the lists only by sizes, needs, and a number.
"Pinehurst Surgical took on a couple of dozen kids from Westmoore and bought clothing and shoes and coats for them," Ruggles said. "A lot of local folks took down sizes for a child."
And it continues. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.
John Chappell can be reached at 783-5841 or by e-mail at jchappell@thepilot.com.
