The Christmas Connection

After learning that the Martin House Dominican Sisters were not going to oversee the annual Toys for Tots distribution program, the Franklin’s Promise coalition stepped in to ensure that families and kids throughout the county would still be able to experience a bright and Merry Christmas.

Franklin’s Promise is a coalition of local concerned citizens, businesses, agencies, organization, and churches that promote positive youth development and coordinates available resources from within the county to address unmet and ongoing needs.

Dubbed the Christmas Connection, on Monday December 8, the coalition setup shop at the Fort Coombs Armory to sort through and prepare gifts and clothing for distribution to families that signed up earlier at both the Apalachicola and Carrabelle Health Departments.

According to Bob Connors, Franklin’s Promise past Chair. “This is a good year for gift distributions… we’ve served more than 180 families and over 400 children throughout Franklin county with toys, clothing, and a food box received from the Salvation Army”, Connors said.

Kay Wheeler, a retired Deacon at Trinity Church along with help from Beverly Connors and current Franklin’s Promise Chair Clarice Powell, coordinated the volunteers needed to sort and distributed the toys purchased using charitable donations received from throughout the community.

Member churches that participated in the distribution campaign were the First United Methodist Church of Apalachicola, St. Patrick's Catholic Church, and Trinity Episcopal Church. The local agencies included the Franklin County Sheriff Office and the Apalachicola and Carrabelle Health Departments. Harry Arnold’s donation of brand new clothing added to the distribution to help make the Christmas of several Franklin county families more joyous.