Ciarra’s Community Christmas Giveaway carries on local legacy of largesse
Belinda Milligan helps bring donations into the Washington High School cafeteria as a new batch arrives.
Harry Funk/Observer-Reporter
Volunteer Gina Ritter is dressed in a festive manner for the event.
Harry Funk/Observer-Reporter
Volunteer Katie Booher organizes items from which children can choose.
Harry Funk/Observer-Reporter
Neighbor 2 Neighbor of Southwestern Pennsylvania volunteers include, from left, Bill Burns, Renee Wright, the Rev. Stephen Thomas Jr., the Rev. L.B. Whitlock, the Rev. Debbie Whitlock, Tre’ Howard, Zoe Howard, Trina Pryor, James Pryor and the Rev. Lindsay Howard. In front is Reid Whitlock.
Harry Funk/Observer-Reporter
Among the many Ciarra’s Community Christmas Giveaway volunteers are Eileen, left, and Rachel Sivie.
Harry Funk/Observer-Reporter
Representing Dress for Success at the event are, from left, Courtney Howe, Heather Howe and Bonnie Evans. The worldwide organization empowers women to achieve economic independence by providing professional attire and a network of support.
Harry Funk/Observer-Reporter
Serving meals in the Washington High School kitchen are, from left, Robin Leady, Jackie Campomizzi and Lisa Rotello.
Volunteers from the Washington City Mission join Anne Wightman, community center coordinator, in distributing items for children.
Bringing more gifts into the Washington High School cafeteria is the Rev. Walter Cherry.
Yes, Washington, there was a Santa Claus. And his name was Robert R. Forrest.
A successful 19th-century carriage maker who cared about his community, he celebrated each Christmas by giving hundreds of neighborhood children bags filled with cookies, candies and fruit.
He also owned property on which the LeMoyne Community Center eventually was built in East Washington Borough. When Joyce Ellis (1958-2020) became the center’s executive director, she revived Forrest’s tradition with Coco’s Christmas, an annual distribution of free toys and gifts named after her Yorkshire terrier.
This year, the legacy of largesse continued with Ciarra’s Community Christmas Giveaway, held Saturday at Washington High School in place of Coco’s event.
Organized by Neighbor 2 Neighbor of Southwestern Pennsylvania, an outreach of volunteers representing 17 churches, Ciarra’s Community Christmas Giveaway offered a wide variety of items for selection, including toys, clothing and hygiene products. And guests who arrived with an appetite could dine on meals cooked in the school kitchen, complete with Christmas cookies and other goodies.
For Debbie and Lance Whitlock, co-founders of Neighbor 2 Neighbor in 2018 with Bill Burns, the giveaway had a special meaning.
“This is named after our daughter,” Debbie said. “Ciarra was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was 29 years old, in 2016. She fought hard for two years, and then she passed in July of 2018. We are just so honored that they named it after her.”
A graduate of Canon-McMillan High School who earned a bachelor’s degree in health information management from Central Christian College of Kansas, Ciarra Whitlock Thomas worked in health care, including as a patient access associate at Washington Hospital. She was a member of Legacy Church International and was ordained as a teaching pastor in November 2016.
Neighbor 2 Neighbor has a history of providing access to free coats and organizing community events, including summer picnics, Easter egg hunts and vacation Bible school.
For Ciarra’s Community Christmas Giveaway, the nonprofit received a substantial amount of support, from the donors of quality items to volunteers who helped guests make selections and wrap them as gifts.
Other participants in the event included the Washington City Mission, Little Rascals Early Learning Center, Our Kids Kloset, Blueprints, Dress for Success, Samaritan Care, Vision Services of Washington-Greene, Genesis of Pittsburgh Inc., Pennsylvania Women Work and the service-oriented Zodiac Motorcycle Club.
For more information about Neighbor 2 Neighbor of Southwestern Pennsylvania, visit www.n2nhelps.org.