A member of the Poarch Creek Band of Indians (PCI) recently purchased gifts for every child in the tribe, but their generosity brought cheer to the store as well.

The Barnes & Noble bookstore in Spanish Fort announced in a press release that a PCI representative came to the bookstore on Friday, Dec. 13, and purchased every single Christmas book that was on display in the children’s section. The customer, who represented the PCI Education Department, said the book purchase will allow almost 500 children from the PCI tribe to get at least one new book to read during the Christmas season.

“In all my time at Barnes & Noble, I’ve never quite seen a purchase like this, but it does highlight what we see every day — the book business is still thriving,” said Michael Dixon, store manager. “We have seen a great commitment from the Poarch Band of Creek Indians Education Department to provide children in their community with the best books for learning and imagining, and we are proud to assist with that goal this Christmas season and in the future.”

Sharon Delmar, PCI community liaison, said the tribe has been purchasing books for its children at the store for more than five years, but never in this large a quantity.

“The contribution of the Poarch Creek Education Department is part of a large community outreach program, which includes all of our tribal departments working together to make sure that our tribal children have a merry Christmas,” she said.