A group of Atmore residents have come together during this year’s holiday season to help those less fortunate, and today they gathered at a once abandoned home on Wilson Avenue to distribute toys that will brighten the Christmases of many area children.

Members of the Miles Per Hour motorcycle club, as well as members of a local firefighters union, joined forces with Change of Minds charity organization in order to collect the toys, organize the items and donate them to local families with young children.

Betty Cox, founder of the Change of Minds organization, said this year is the first season the group has used the home on Wilson Avenue as a distribution center.

“I used to drive by this house everyday,” Cox said. “It was broken down and I thought we could fix it up and use it. We’re still working on it, but God showed me a vision. We could have said ‘let’s just throw it on the trash pile.’ But what if God just threw us on the trash pile?”

For the complete story of the Christmas cheer created by these local groups, see the Wednesday, Dec. 19 edition of The Atmore Advance.