Operation Christmas Child in last days for donations

Local News

November 19, 2009

CJ Staff Report The Commonwealth Journal Thu Nov 19, 2009, 07:37 PM EST

These are the final days to donate toy-filled shoeboxes as part of Operation Christmas Child. National Collection week ends Monday, Nov. 23.

Operation Christmas Child is an outreach of Samaritan’s Purse. Franklin Graham, son of evangelist Billy Graham, started Operation Christmas Child in 1993, sending 28,000 toy-filled shoeboxes to children in need across the world.

Boxes can be filled for either a boy or a girl — an infant or a child between the ages of 2 and 4, 5 and 9, or 10 and 14.

Items recommended include toys such as small cars, dolls, balls, and stuffed animals; school supplies such as pencils, markers, stamps, or paper; hygiene items such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, and washcloths; and other items such as T-shirts, socks, hair clips and watches.

Items which should not be included are used items, perishable items, liquids, medicine or breakable items. Toy guns and knives should also not be put into the boxes.

Before the shoeboxes are sent overseas, Christian literature in the child’s own language is inserted. For that reason, the tops and bottoms of the boxes should be wrapped separately, so that the package can be opened without tearing the paper.

The Lake Cumberland Area Collection Center is located in the Beacon Hill Baptist Church Activity Center at Light no. 26 on South U.S. 27.

Those who have not had time to pack a shoebox, but who would like to donate, can purchase prepared shoeboxes at Wal-Mart for $12, $15, or $20.

Also, those who have items to donate that didn’t fit in their shoeboxes can put those items in the “filler box” at the collection center. Operation Christmas Child processing centers will use those items to help top off shoeboxes that need more filling.

The collection center will be open Friday and Monday from 11 a.m.-7 p.m., Saturday from 11 a.m.-6 p.m., and Sunday from 1-5 p.m.

For more information, visit www.samaritanspurse.org/occ or call 1-800-460-2856.

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Pulaski carries Girdler to win

In the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s primary election, it was impossible to miss the colorful signs dotting nearly every Pulaski roadway. The names in the race for the 15th State Senatorial District seat popped out: A.C. Donahue. Chris Girdler. Mark Polston.

Once citizens hit the ballots, however, the results mirrored the dimensions of the signs themselves: Chris Girdler stood the tallest.

Girdler, deputy district director for Congressman Harold “Hal” Rogers, ran away with the votes inside Pulaski County’s borders, earning 3,926 votes for 62.05 percent of the total number cast.

That number more than doubled the next highest vote-getter, businessman Mark Polston, who raked in 1,624 votes for 25.67 percent.

However, Polston — who owns Classic Carpet, a home-flooring business located just off the southern 914 bypass — can claim a moral victory ... three of them, in fact. In all three counties in the district other than Pulaski — those being Adair, Casey, and Russell Counties — Polston actually edged out Girdler.

In Adair, Polston beat Girdler 629 to 394. In Casey County, it was 538 to 417, and in Russell, it was 1,862 to 1,038.

Polston said he just “couldn’t pull it out with the numbers” and that “the machine worked for” Girdler in Pulaski County.

“I think that was their strategy — I think they had a Pulaski County strategy all along,” said Polston. “They played the political game well.”

Polston said the difference between his and Girdler’s campaigns was that “mine was a very, very grass roots campaign,” he said. “I did not have a political machine behind me. I understand how this process works, and in this instance, he prevailed.”

As for why Girdler didn’t take three of four counties, the winning candidate — since there are no Democrats in the race, winning the Republican primary was effectively a final victory for Girdler — said he didn’t have an answer for that.

However, “I believe things happen for a reason and I hope the long and strenuous campaign will only heighten my desire to move beyond the bitterness and partisanship of the recent past,” said Girdler.

“Regionalism is a goal of mine, and I look forward to helping all four counties,” he added, noting that he campaigned heavily in each of them.

Sen. Vernie McGaha, the long-time state senator whose seat the candidates were vying for, actually supported Polston after Liberty’s Todd Hoskins dropped out of the race earlier this month.

Donahue, a local attorney, got 556 votes in Pulaski County, 8.79 percent of the vote. He only received 145 votes in Russell County, 74 in Adair County, and 75 in Casey County, where hometown candidate Hoskins almost matched him with 71 votes despite no longer being officially in the race.

Polston said he’s “still digesting” what happened, and though “the process has been a very good experience for me,” he wouldn’t commit to running again in the future. “I wouldn’t shut the door to anything, but I’m not opening any doors either.”

Still, “I think I got a lot of people involved in the process that had not been involved before and would not have been otherwise,” he said. “A lot of people got out and worked really hard, got motivated to talk to friends and neighbors. I think a lot of people became involved through this campaign that are going to be involved for a long time.”

Girdler stressed his “positive message” and said that Rogers is a “mentor and good friend” that he would turn to for advice in dealing with a frequently combative legislative body in Frankfort, one for which Girdler hopes to help change the culture.

Girdler said that he was “confident and optimistic” during the day Tuesday because he’d “worked extremely hard.” Nevertheless, the realization that he’d won gave him “chill bumps,” he said.

“I’m absolutely honored,” said Girdler. “The position of state senator is more than an honor, more than an office. It’s a charge to keep, and I will give it my all.

“I pledge to be the people’s state senator,” he added. “I look forward to working with everyone to move this region forward.”

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