Editor’s note: The following article was written by YLA class member Olivia Simmons.
On Dec. 7, 2017, Youth Leadership Atmore held their Day of Service session and made a few stops throughout Atmore. To start the day, the class delivered coffee and donuts to first responders at the Atmore Police Department and Atmore Fire Stations. This was a small token of appreciation for protecting and serving our city. On that chilly day, the warm coffee was much needed and we hope it was enjoyed by our first responders.

Next, the class ventured to Wal-Mart where the students broke into groups to buy Christmas gifts for a family of four girls. When Cecilia Harrison, YLA Steering Committee Chairperson, started talking about the kids’ Christmas lists, we were all excited to shop for them. After each group grabbed a shopping cart, we searched for the items on the list. Once we purchased all our items, we went to Pee Wee Construction Company’s warehouse to wrap our gifts. It was such a joy to see everyone actually putting in effort to make their gift wrapping look nice for the children. While we were at the warehouse, Pee Wee and Annie Powell shared information about the LA Bikers 17th Annual Toyz for Kidz ride and how much of a success the ride has been especially during the past few years. Some of the YLA members signed up to participate in the ride the following Saturday.

At around 12:00, we drove to David’s Catfish House for lunch. I think everyone enjoyed the food and had a good time together. Our last event of the day included activities at the Atmore Nursing Care Center. While there we made snowman ornaments with the residents and sang Christmas carols. The residents had a blast and some even sang along with us. They loved their ornaments and could hardly wait to hang them up in their rooms. In my opinion, our Day of Service would not have been successful if it wasn’t for our Christmas spirit. Everyone truly loved giving back to others, and it was evident at each stop during our day.