Chamber ‘wraps up’ the holiday season

Published 12:00 am Saturday, January 24, 2004

If you participated in the Greenville Chamber of Commerce’s recent holiday gift-wrapping service, you got two good deeds in one.

Not only did they wrap gifts purchased from local merchants free of charge, they also collected donations for the Department of Human Resources’ Children’s Fund.

&uot;We collected $150.91 from our gift &uot;wrappees&uot; for the Fund,&uot; Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Carol Lee said. &uot;We didn’t solicit donations, but had donation containers out in the gift-wrapping area to accommodate those who wanted to give something.&uot;

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Greenville DHR’s Patient’s Assistance Program Coordinator Roslyn Cook accepted the check from Lee.

&uot;We are always thankful for help from the community,&uot; Cook said. &uot;I want to thank the Chamber for assisting the Fund during their wrapping program. Its help is truly appreciated.&uot;

Now the wrapping paper is gone, the ribbons and bows are boxed up for storage and the Chamber of Commerce crew is back to business as usual at The Depot.

At the same time she heaves a sigh of relief that it’s all over, Lee is, in the back of her mind, planning to do it all over again.

Lee said that this year’s gift-wrapping program, called &uot;All Wrapped Up in the Spirit of Christmas,&uot; was a resounding success.

&uot;We had a terrific response,&uot; Lee said. &uot;We will definitely do this again.&uot;

The chamber director felt everything went smoothly, and said they received only a few complaints.

&uot;There are a few things we would like to work on for next time, such as a better coordination of our volunteer wrappers,&uot; Lee said. &uot;We had a few spots in the scheduling where we were short on wrappers, but nothing major.&uot;

She said the Chamber volunteers wrapped 1,281 gifts during the three weeks the wrapping service was offered.

&uot;We wrapped purchases valued at more than $18,000 from 38 area stores. We consider it a success.&uot;

Here is the final breakdown of gifts wrapped from area merchants:

Store Name# of gifts$ Value

WalMart5317,575

Goody’s 2503,752

WestPoint Stevens541,177.50

Fred’s68747

Moore’s39693

Factory Connection32542

Dollar General122445.50

Mr. Style11442

Greenville Equipment1410

Cato19324

McFerrins Jewelry3255

Burke’s Outlet30243

Family Dollar36237

Cash & Carry3156

Walker8120

CVS17119.50

Two Boutiques1115

Butler Farmer’s Co-op283

Championship Trophy374

Cracker Barrel367

McLendon Medical164

Stabler’s Gift Shop255

NY Fashions346

Thomas Sanderson145

Radio Shack241

Hot Waxx228

Janice’s 124

Fine Arts League320

Butler Services120

Badcock Home Furnishings120

Dollar Tree1919

Young’s Fashion316

Winn Dixie110

Super Foods310

Greenville Hardware110

Betty’s Past and Present210

MainStreet Movies15

Chevron15

Lee also extended her gratitude for the supplies that were donated by several area merchants, including Dollar Tree, Fred’s, Super Foods, WalMart, Jackson Thornton, & Co. PC, Walker Business Machines and Winn Dixie.

These businesses donated wrapping paper, bows, boxes and tape for the chamber volunteers to use.

&uot;I would also like to thank our volunteers,&uot; Lee said. &uot;They were invaluable in making this whole effort a success. They donated their time to help out with wrapping and serving refreshments, and I really appreciated each one of them.&uot;

The volunteers were Nancy Branum, Jennifer Burkett, Jean Katz, Magoo Hamilton, Lee Pelfrey, Savannah Stacy, Diane Kilpatrick, Al & Bryce Landwehr, Teresa Stevens, Tabitha Gafford, Farren Butts, Petey Cureton, Dennis Palmer, Rose Lecoq, Mack Russell, Shae Hartman, Steve & Alice McGee, Eric Fennell, Susan Rhodes, Bryan Reynolds, Mallory Lee, Debra Atwell, David Scott, Christopher Slagley, Ann Steiner Gregory, Tonya Halford, Kimberly Johnson, Kana Jones, Amanda Foshee, Daryll & Jherri Luckie, Cile Martin, Joyce Peavy, Brittany Williams, Linda Horn, Jessica Poff, Dr. Bob Martin & staff, Elisa Campbell, Phillip, Joyce & Kellie Murphy, Carolyn Graham, Danolyn Poole, Lorraine McLaney and Lucy Foster