In its second year, the employee-led Lozier Community Grant program supported 50 nonprofit organizations across the country. Recipients were selected by employee committees in all five Lozier locations.  Over the next couple of months, the recipient organizations’ stories of impact will be shared on LozierLink.

On a warm September afternoon in Scottsboro, Alabama, the feeling of Christmas could be felt in Jackson County’s DHR building. Volunteers packed the space, asking grateful families for gifting wish lists ahead of the holidays. For Jackson County Christmas Charities, it’s a tradition going back a half-century.

“A group of people got together to try and help underprivileged children for Christmas, and elderly people and handicapped people, too,” Charity board president Robbie Copenhaver said. The board prepares all year for the outreach, collecting donations and items for the season.

By September each year, volunteers gather to meet with those in need, coordinating gifts and assistance to ensure it’s a happy holiday for everyone.

“You just want everybody to be able to have a Christmas, especially the kids,” Copenhaver said. “They need to be able to open up something for Christmas.” While volunteers put those wish lists together, gifts are gathered and slated for delivery.

“It’ll humble you really quick, and you don’t know how good you have it until you do this,” Copenhaver said. One of ten operations in the Scottsboro-area receiving financial assistance from the 2023 Lozier Community Grant Program, this is the second year Jackson County Christmas Charities received a grant, aiding the effort to provide grocery store gift cards to those getting by with limited access to food.

An added surprise, the donation actually exceeded the Charity’s requested dollar amount, a show of support from Lozier’s Scottsboro staff. Copenhaver said receiving the news from the Lozier Grant Committee was overwhelming.

“I was so excited, I couldn’t wait to tell everybody,” Copenhaver said. “That was just so unbelievable. They’re (Lozier) our second-largest contribution to Christmas Charities now, and that means a lot to everybody.”

With the festivities over and the calendar now marking 2024, Copenhaver said there’s not much time to rest with planning underway for the upcoming holiday season. For those looking to volunteer or donate, he added the group is a perfect way to pay back and help those around you.

“I think we’re doing it the right way,” Copenhaver added. “I think everybody sees how we do it and how devoted we are to this, and we take it seriously.”

For details on the Jackson County Christmas Charities program, visit the operation’s Facebook page.Click here to learn more about the Lozier Community Grant program.