The money and toy donations are coming in, but physical support for the Al Millard Stocking Full of Love has begun waning as the program has grown, Walker County Sheriff Steve Wilson said.

“The program has grown while the number of volunteers has stayed the same,” Wilson said.

The first toy drive for Walker County families took place for Christmas 1989 when the “toy store” operated out of two small rooms behind the current commissioner’s office on South Duke Street in LaFayette, he said. Now, the toys are distributed from the Christian Life Center at Oakwood Baptist Church in Chickamauga, one of the larger churches in the community.

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Any volunteers willing to help distribute toys Dec. 15-16 for the Al Millard Stocking Full of Love should contact Capt. George Deer at the Walker County Sheriff’s Department at (706) 638-1909. Anyone interested in helping year-round should also contact Deer or show up at the charity’s monthly meetings. They are held the second Tuesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. at the 911 Center, which is adjacent to the Walker County Civic Center on U.S. 27 in Rock Spring.

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It takes a lot of manpower to hand out more than 4,000 toys and people are also needed to go to stores and buy the toys, Wilson said. Year-round volunteers are also needed to help organize fundraisers that really keep people busy from July through January.

Those who would like to volunteer for one or two days should do so on Dec. 15 to help set up the toy store or on Dec. 16 to help give toys to families, he said.

The charity, which provides Christmas toys for families who can’t afford them, is getting a financial boost this season with a $2,386 donation from Bi-Lo, officials said.

Phil Daniels, manager of the Rossville Bi-Lo on Chickamauga Avenue, said all but $500 of the donation came from shoppers in his store. During May, his employees sold donation cards to raise $1,886. The corporate office kicked in an additional $500 raised during the Bi-Lo Charity Classic golf tournament.

The tournament, now in its 23rd year, is the largest single-day charity tournament in the country, said George Deer, a captain in the Walker County Sheriff’s Department who helps organize the Stocking Full of Love. The charity provides Christmas toys for families who can’t afford them for their children.

Bi-Lo raised a total of $5.5 million this year, Deer said. That money is distributed to charity organizations throughout the Southeast.

The supermarket’s headquarters is in Mauldin, S.C., and operates under the names Bi-Lo, Bruno’s, Food World and Food Max.

The Empty Stocking Fund, a United Way of Greater Chattanooga agency, supplies food for Walker County families in need of groceries for Christmas. Those who want to help purchase food may send a donation in care of George Gilbert, treasurer of the Empty Stocking Fund, at The Bank of LaFayette, P.O. 1149, LaFayette 30728.

Gilbert said they will hand out the food at the Walker County Agricultural Center on Dec. 22. Those who wish to help the LaFayette Rotary Club deliver the food should contact Gilbert at (706) 638-2520 or LaFayette Housing Authority Director Ruth Bass at (706) 638-2733.

Last year, the Empty Stocking Fund helped deliver more than 800 bags of groceries to 2,100 individuals in 770 households, Gilbert said, adding the city will miss having former LaFayette Public Safety Director Charles “Dino” Richardson’s help this year.

Applications for the Stocking Full of Love are available from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Rossville Police Department, Walker County Sheriff’s Department in LaFayette and the Department of Family and Children Services in Rock Spring. Applications for the Empty Stocking Fund are available at the Walker County Messenger, Walker Health Department, the Department of Family and Children Services, the LaFayette Housing Authority and each of the schools in the county.

The deadline to apply for assistance from either charity is Nov. 30.

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