DTOC Makes Christmas A Little Easier For Local Charities

On Tuesday, November 19th, 2013, the Downtown Optimist Club of Meridian presented five local charities with donations to assist them in their efforts to provide gifts to children at Christmas.The five charities were Wesley House, Cans For Kids, Meridian Shop With A Cop, The Chunky River H.O.G. Toy Ride and The Salvation Army.

Each charity received $1,000 either in funds or toys making our total 2013 donation $5,000. These annual donations are dedicated to assisting organizations in providing Christmas gifts to needy children in our community.The Downtown Optimist Club will also dedicate a full day to ringing bells for the Salvation Army on Tuesday, Dec 3rd, 2013 and we would love to have everyone stop by our kettle and drop in a few bucks to help out The Salvation Army. We’ll be stationed at the main entrance of Walmart on Highway 19 North.

The local girls group, The Debs, will assist the DTOC by purchasing toys for The Salvation Army, The Chunky River H.O.G. Toy Ride and the Wesley House. Each of these organizations are currently gathering toys in preparation for Christmas and our partnership with the Debs helps them gain valuable community services hours which help them achieve their own goals in helping the community. It’s a win-win relationship that gets youth involved and engaged in the community service efforts going on in our community.

The DTOC has been raising funds to assist youth programs since 1941 and continues to provide assistance area youth whenever and where ever possible.