Interra Serves at MUST Ministries Toy Shop

On December 17th, eleven Interra employees gave up their afternoon to help local parents pick out new toys, clothing, and other items from the MUST Ministries Cobb Toy Shop and give their kids a special Christmas they might not have otherwise. We split up and each had a role to play, from checking the parents in for their appointments, assisting them with their shopping, checking them out, and helping them to their car. Parents were able to pick a certain number of items per child from each section: big gifts, little gifts, educational items, winter clothing, stocking stuffers, and blankets/stuffed animals, plus a family game. Shopping assistants took them around to the different stations to pick out gifts for each child, helped them make their selections, and checked off each category from their allocation sheet. As time went on, some of the shopping assistants broke off to bring new items from the back and restock the shelves, making sure every parent had a great selection to choose from. The team worked hard and the time flew by. One of the volunteers described it best: “it was tons of fun, and felt great to be part of such beautiful cause!”

MUST Ministries

MUST Ministries runs the toy shop every year for Cobb County and recently added a location for Cherokee County. They assist those experiencing poverty with food, housing, clothing, and workforce assistance, plus a healthcare clinic. It’s not always easy to accept help; one of the shopping assistants noted the anxiety on some of the parents’ faces. While taking one mom around who looked visibly uncomfortable, “suddenly, she spotted an item that she knew would bring her child happiness, and her face lit up. In that moment, her discomfort transformed into excitement and relief. Helping to provide another human being with that peace of mind was a great joy for me.” Our group’s language skills were useful as well; being able to chat with some of the Spanish-speaking parents in their own language helped put them at ease.