PARKERSBURG - Employees with TLC in Home Care Services Inc. donated items to the St. Margaret Mary Parish food pantry for the weeks leading up to the holidays.
With Christmas quickly approaching, the small business of service workers decided to make the holiday season a little brighter for area families.
"We look at it like we're lucky to have jobs and so many other people aren't as lucky," said office worker with TLC Jennifer McCrady.
TLC offers in-home care while promoting clients' rights of respect and dignity, said owner Cynthia Deem. The small company offers Alzheimer's disease care, bathing, grooming, hygiene, mind stimulation exercises and shopping for elderly residents.
"That's what we do; we help people," she said. "We just want to help and give back to the community."
Greg Maher, volunteer for the food pantry, said he works part time as a caretaker for a funeral home and can afford to take the hour off a few days a month. His father, John Maher, is a deacon to the parish.
The pantry is open to the area Tuesdays and Fridays from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., Maher said. People wishing to receive items must have valid identification, names of members of their household and Social Security numbers.
"We try to do age-appropriate things," he said. "Usually we don't have as much sweet stuff; we try to get more for kids during the holidays."
"We're getting a lot of stuff in for the holidays," Maher said. "I just put away 200 to 300 pounds of flour that was donated."
If a family comes in, volunteers ask questions, including how old their children are, to cater to their specific needs.
Caretaker for TLC Tammy Stuart said she thought of items like baby food and peanut butter and jelly for children who need extra meals while home for the holidays.
"(A peanut butter and jelly sandwich) really is a good, nutritious meal for kids home from school," she said. "A lot of people don't think of the children who may need those extra meals."
Deem said the group purchased items, including Kool-Aid, Jell-O and pudding.
"Someone who doesn't have a stove to cook on," said McCrady. "We thought of people like that too, where they can just open it up and eat it."
TLC is at 327 Dutch Ridge Road, Parkersburg.
