Christmas Came Early for Children Displaced by Two Fires

December 28, 2020

The two fires that occurred in Laurens County on Sunday, December 20th displaced nine adults and 11 children and took the life of a four-year-old girl.  The first one occurred Sunday morning at the Landau Apartments in Clinton and the second one later in the day in Joanna.

Just days before Christmas members of the local community activated and in what seemed like a well-choreographed play, they created an event full of the joy of Christmas for the families who have lost everything.

On Wednesday, December 23rd, volunteers spent the day setting up the event that took place at First Baptist Church in Clinton. Coordinator of the event, Nickie Templeton left no detail to chance.  The room was laid out with social distancing in mind with seating sectioned off by family, young volunteers served as “elves” to assist each family during the event, and volunteers spent much of the day setting up the toys, bikes and clothes that would be revealed at the event.

Even at this busy time of year, Santa was able to come by and hand out a few presents before the big reveal of all the toys took place.  The event closed with a train ride for the children, pizza and hot chocolate.

“It was a labor of love,” said Nickie Templeton.  “We wanted these families and the children to know that we care, and this was our way of showing them.  We are so grateful to all the volunteers and those who donated to help make this happen.”

In addition to putting on this event to bring some Christmas joy to the children, volunteers across Laurens County donated much needed household items and money to help the families recover from this tragedy.

You only need to look at the smiles on the faces of the children (and the parents) to see that the magic of Christmas is alive and well in Laurens County.  To watch the video of the event that was live streamed on the LaurensCountyBUZZ Facebook page click here.

Well done Laurens County, well done!