MC family can show giving spirit by supporting Wingard Home, Sponsor a Child at Christmas programs

Izzy Humes, left, a junior interdisciplinary major from Logan, Utah, and Naomi Haynes, a sophomore pre-occupational therapy major from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, peruse the Angel Tree in the Caf at MC.

Mississippi College faculty, staff and students are engaging the community with two longstanding service projects that help spread the message of Christ by reaching out to those in need.

Shari Barnes, director of MC’s Community Service Center, coordinates the university’s participation in the “Sponsor a Child at Christmas” program, a ministry that supports the Prison Fellowship Ministries’ Angel Tree program, Mustard Seed and Southern Christian Services for Children and Youth.

Barnes, who has organized Sponsor a Child at MC for two decades, said supporting the program is an ideal way for the MC family to begin the Christmas season.

“We’ve been blessed to be associated with this University, and I believe we should give back to others as a University,” said Barnes.

Angel Tree is an organization that provides clothing, toys and Christmas cheer to children with parents in prison. Mustard Seed is a Christian community that meets the spiritual, physical, emotional and intellectual needs of adults with special needs. Southern Christian Services assists vulnerable children in foster care throughout Mississippi in becoming self-sufficient and contributing members of society.

Barnes places the first names, interests, clothing and shoe sizes of Angel Tree, Mustard Seed and Southern Christian Services participants on construction paper “angels” and places them on Christmas trees that she displays in the MC Cafeteria, the MC Commons and the MC School of Law before and after Thanksgiving break.

Volunteers select one or more “angels” from the tree, purchase some of the requested items, and return them to the MC Community Service Center in room 200 in the B.C. Rogers Student Center. The gifts, which should remain unwrapped, are due by Friday, Dec. 12.

Faculty, staff and students in the MC Department of Art begin their holiday season by hosting the annual Wingard Home Dinner, an evening of holiday food, fellowship and Christian witness for residents of the Wingard Home, an oasis for abandoned, lost, hurting and abused people in Jackson.

Ray Gregory and Albert Smathers, MC professors of art, inherited hosting duties last year from Randy Jolly, director of the Gore Galleries at MC, who previously coordinated the Wingard dinner.

The event includes a meal, devotional time with families and an art activity for children. Assisted by art students, the young guests create an original keepsake of the event, and female residents receive beautiful handmade quilts.

This year’s dinner is scheduled from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 5, in Anderson Hall in the B.C. Rogers Student Center.

“The dinner allows the residents of Wingard Home to relax and enjoy an evening out,” Gregory said. “The Quad will be lit up for Christmas, and they’ll be able to experience the festive atmosphere on campus.”

The Wingard Home strives to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ by ministering to individuals and families in need. The ministry provides accommodations for unhoused men, women, children and entire families living in dire need or having been displaced or abandoned.

“The Wingard Home dinner allows the MC Department of Art to benefit the community in a more personal, direct way,” Gregory said. “The children are so proud of the art project that they make, and to see the parents enjoy letting their kids run around, have fun and enjoy themselves is the best part.

“It reminds us of what’s important about the holiday season and to love your neighbor. It’s always been a blessing for everyone involved.”

For more information or to donate to MC’s Sponsor a Child program, email Barnes at sbarnes@mc.edu.

For more information or to donate to the Wingard Home dinner, email Gregory at gregory@mc.edu.