The Kiwanis Club of Arnold will hold its sixth annual Giving and Light Fair from 1-5 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 4, at the Fox C-6 Service Center, 849 Jeffco Blvd., in Arnold.
No admission will be charged, but the club asks attendees to donate an unwrapped toy, nonperishable food item or paper product to be donated to those in need. The toys will be distributed to Fox C-6 elementary schools or the Hand ’n Hand Pregnancy Help Center in Barnhart. Food items will be given to the Arnold Food Pantry, and paper products will be donated to the Women’s Crisis Nursery at Mercy Hospital Jefferson in Crystal City, fair organizer and Kiwanis member Carole Yount said.
The event will include free photos with Santa Claus, giveaways and children’s activities, like a fishing booth, picture frame making, face painting, writing letters to Santa and playing bingo. St. Louis Cardinals’ mascot Fredbird will be on hand, too.
“When you see the kids enjoying Santa and interacting with everyone, it makes everything worthwhile,” Yount said. “It is not just a fun time for kids, but it is also a fun time for adults. It makes us feel good to do these kinds of things.”
The event also will include a silent auction, and raffles for 15 Chromebooks and a quilt will be included.
Yount said raffle and auction winners do not need to be at the event to collect their prizes, and the club will reach out winners after the event.
The Arnold Tourism Commission and area businesses provided funds for the club to purchase the Chromebooks.
“When you draw names for the Chromebooks, the kids get very excited,” Yount said. “A lot of them know what Chromebooks are because they use them at school. We are very fortunate to be able to give away as many as we have. Because we give away the same product they use in the Fox School District and most surrounding districts, they are helpful for the kids.”
Proceeds from the quilt raffle and silent auction will be used to provide scholarships and other projects benefiting kids, Yount said.
Two attractions from last year’s fair are expected to return. Members of Heroes for Kids, a nonprofit organization based in Perryville whose members dress up as superheroes, will be on hand for photos, and the Missouri Freemasons will register children for the Missouri Child Identification Program.
MoCHIP is a program that allows parents to store photos, fingerprints, their child’s information and emergency contacts on a disc compatible with the Amber Alert system, which is used when a child goes missing or is abducted. The parents also will receive a dental bit impression of their child and two laminated ID cards.
Yount said it takes between 15 to 20 minutes for a child to complete the MoCHIP process.
“Kiwanis is all about kids, and anything we can do to help kids is important,” she said. “Last year, we had some interest, but that was our first year. Now that people are more aware of it and how it can help, I would expect we would have more participation this year. (The Freemasons) stress it is not only for younger kids, but for middle-school-age kids who have a little more freedom.”
Yount said the Heroes for Kids members were a big hit last year, and she is glad they plan to come back.
“The kids loved them. Their interaction with the kids as Superman, Wonder Woman and the Marvel characters was wonderful,” Yount said. “The little things they give away, like Matchbox cars, are things the kids enjoyed.”
Yount said each child will receive a flashlight, and bath and body products and throws will be handed out to adults.
She said booths will be decorated with lights to match the Giving and Light Fair theme.
Rockport Heights Elementary School staff members will give away socks, and Lone Dell Elementary School staff members will give away hats and gloves.
Yount said members of Seckman High School’s Key Club and members of both Seckman High’s and Fox High School’s Students Against Destructive Decisions will volunteer during the event.
For more information about the event, call Yount at 314-401-2669 or email her at younthome@yahoo.com. People also may go to the club’s Facebook page or contact a club member, Yount said.
The Kiwanis Club has two meetings a month, a lunch meeting at noon on the second Tuesday of each month at Wesley Roger’s Steak and Buffet, 3601 Jeffco Blvd., in Arnold, and the other at 8 a.m. on the fourth Tuesday in the basement of Arnold City Hall, 2101 Jeffco Blvd.
“We are looking for new members,” Yount said. “We have about 20 members. We are a small group with big hearts.”