Last year, the caring nature of the staff of Weakley and Obion County Carl Perkins Center and the supportive community leaders at Wendell Alexander Reality/Skyhawk Rental and Top Tier Auctions combined to make a COVID-cautious Halloween a little sweeter for Weakley County students. This year, they decided the provision of treats should become an annual affair.
On Wednesday, they delivered almost 2,000 packets of assorted candies to pre-K through fifth graders in Dresden, Gleason, Greenfield, Martin, and Sharon.
“We wanted to continue the tradition that we started last year. It’s a good opportunity during COVID to let the kids know that the community cares about them,” said Jacob Crowe, director of marketing for the three businesses, who along with Amber Whitten, Director of the Carl Perkins Center, traveled from school to school and either distributed the goodies directly to the students or left them with administrators for planned events on Friday.
Volunteers worked for a week to include items such as Hershey’s Kisses, Airheads, Laffy Taffy, Dums Dums, and Tootsie Rolls in individualized sacks that were then counted out by schools and grades.
Whitten, whose 9-year-old son Reece was a recipient at Martin Elementary, laughingly said the selection was “Reece-approved.” She continued smiling as she described the interactions with the children.
“We’ve gotten lots of hugs and high fives. Hearing them cheer and be so happy, it feels good,” she said.
Crowe agreed, “The smiles on their face kind of means a lot to me. I’m an emotional person anyway, so any time I can have an opportunity to give, it’s meaningful and always exciting.”