MOULTRIE, Ga. — The pandemic has changed the way communities look, but the heartbeat of collaboration is alive and well beyond the virtual meetings and hand sanitizer in Colquitt County. 

The Kiwanis Club of Moultrie wanted to try something different this year and put out a call to action for social service clubs to collaborate for a holiday mission. The goal was to stuff stockings with toiletries, hats, gloves, candy canes, etc. to spread Christmas cheer a little further to boys and girls this year.

Monetary donations were collected from several clubs to purchase stockings and supplies, a club spokeswoman said. 

“After navigating major delays with deliveries, likely impacted by the pandemic and holiday busyness, all supplies arrived nail-bitingly close to the deadline for schools to deliver the stockings to families,” the club said. 

Area volunteers gathered at the Colquitt County Arts Center Dec. 5-6 to help make Christmas a little brighter for area youth. 

The Kiwanis Club’s partners included Rotary Club of Moultrie, Moultrie Junior Woman’s Club, Moultrie Federated Guild, Moultrie Service League, The Federated Club, and S.W.A.T. (Sisters With a Testimony).  

Children’s Cheer and Toy Shop volunteers distributed 642 stockings along with bags of toys for families at local schools.