Ronica Shannon
Richmond Centre obviously will be a hot spot for holiday shopping, but this weekend, it also will be a place of holiday giving.
The Holiday Market, which is a Madison County Backpack Club/Wingspan fundraiser, will be located at Richmond Center Friday through Sunday inside two vacant store lots, one being next to DEB and the other next to Maurice’s.
The market’s hours will be from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.
The Wingspan program, better known as the Madison Backpack Club, was created last year as a service of Kirksville Baptist Church where Tara Mitchell, Wingspan president, is a member.
God’s Outreach Food Bank in Richmond also has helped with the initiative that was created to provide a weekend’s worth of food to local school children in need.
However, the cost of the project is now almost 10 times more than it was at the beginning, according to Tara Mitchell, president of Wingspan/Madison County Backpack Club.
“It was about $120 a month (when the Backpack Club/Wingspan started),” Mitchell said. “Now, it’s over $1,000 per month. We have received lots of donations, but the amount of children we are feeding has also increased. People are losing jobs and are in a tougher financial bind now.”
A free raffle ticket will be given to anyone who brings a donation for the Backpack Club/Wingspan. There is a list of acceptable food items for the backpacks, but other non-perishable items that are appropriate for a child’s lunch also can be donated, Mitchell said.
The list includes: breakfast pastries (i.e. Pop Tarts), fruit cups, oatmeal packets, cheese crackers, microwavable macaroni and cheese, single-serving cereal boxes, soups, raisins, granola bars, pudding, single-packs of potato chips, fruit snacks and tuna.
All food items donated will be made into a Christmas tree that will be on display at the vacant store lot next to Maurice’s clothing store.
Refreshments also will be on sale at both locations, with 100 percent of donations going to the Backpack Club/Wingspan.
Wingspan/Backpack Club volunteer Jenny Spurlock said Richmond Centre representatives were very receptive to the idea of using the two vacant locations to host the Holiday Market.
“They have been wonderful,” Spurlock said. “They even mentioned doing this again in the spring.”
The Holiday Market has 12 local business sponsors that are offering items for the raffle, but there is room for about eight more sponsors, Spurlock said.
“For our first time doing something like this, I think we’ve had a good turnout (of vendor sponsors) and hope to grow in the future,” she said.
“The reason we do what we do is for the children,” Spurlock said. “There are children in the Madison County school system who do not eat on the weekends. Everything we do is for them. It’s worth it when one little child comes back and says that they enjoyed their backpack. When one child comes back with that smile on their face, then it’s worth it.”
Mitchell also said the Kirksville Clothing Bank remains in operation for anyone in need, and is open on the third Saturday of each month from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the community center on Kirksville Road.
Clothing is available for men, women, children, toddlers and babies, however, donations also are being accepted.
Ronica Shannon can be reached at rshannon@richmondregister.com or 624-6608.
