“I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me” Matthew 25:36
For the seventh consecutive year, Pat Arnold of Horseshoe Bend is spearheading the effort to gather supplies to present to the inmates at the Calico Rock prison for Christmas.
Arnold said simple items such as ramen noodles, white crew cut socks, a bar of soap and individually wrapped cookies or crackers are greatly appreciated.
“We’ve been doing this for almost seven years and it started out fairly small but has gotten bigger as the years have passed. It is one that is dear to my heart, and I was able to go in and give the prisoners their Christmas presents,” Arnold said. “If you’ve never seen a big burly tattooed man cry because you handed him a bag with socks, soap and ramen.. you’ve never seen anything. It’s amazing how grateful they are.”
Arnold said this is one way to give back to those who perform work through the area during the year and make their holiday brighter in spite of grim circumstances.
“People ask why do you do it? If you look around, those prisoners do work for us. When we had the tornado, those guys came out and cleaned up all of our brush here in Horseshoe Bend. They helped some who are older and couldn’t do it themselves. The city has used them. The county uses them and they do some work for us,” Arnold said.
The items received will be delivered to the prison on Dec. 11 and distributed Dec. 16 among the inmates just before the Christmas holiday.
“ We have several collection points, the Faith Presbyterian Church helps me sponsor this and if you’re an individual, church or group and want help we’ll come and collect the things from you. You can also drop items at the Horseshoe Bend Chamber of Commerce and City Hall. We need the items by the 10th and I’m willing to collect on the 10th,” Arnold said. “We appreciate your help and anything you can do. and on the 11th we’ll give it to the prison and they’ll be given out on the 16th.”
For more information, contact Pat Arnold at 417-257-3773.
Lauren is a an award-winning journalist who decided after 10 years of newspaper experience to venture out. Hallmark Times was born.
