Members of the DeKalb-Smithville Order of the Eastern Star have been busy collecting stuffed animals for At-Risk children in our communities of DeKalb County and Smith County in Middle Tennessee. Our community service project is to help with the first responder agencies as well as local law enforcement agencies in both counties to be able to comfort children in at-risk situations during traumatic times such as accidents, fires, etc. to help transition through the traumatic event. Our hope is to assist with these agencies who are public servants and selfless heroes, helping to create positive interaction with our communities. Thanks be unto God for allowing us to assist in such a small way considering the huge difference that our public servants do on a daily basis.
By bridging a gap and helping to show positive feedback helps to create a great necessity in many of our communities. Our law enforcement and first responders need uplifting support from us, the community. Their sacrifice of long hours during stressful situations can be much better with knowing that they can put a smile on a child’s face with something so simple as a stuffed animal. We feel that this is the best chance to impact the areas and see that it is part of our Christian duty to pay our blessings forward to our neighbors with love.
Our chapter placed donation boxes all around both counties. Smith County sites were as follows:
● Wilson Bank and Trust Gordonsville
● Citizens Bank Gordonsville
● Carthage Benevolent Lodge #14
● #Holly’s/Video Quest
● AmVets Post
● Carthage Sav Way
● DeKalb County sites were as follows:
● Liberty State Bank and Trust in Alexandria and Liberty
● Prichard’s Foods in Alexandria
● Liberty Masonic Lodge
● Mike Foster Memorial Complex in Smithville
● The Smoke Shop in Smithville
We want to mention New Parts in Gordonsville for donating the boxes that were used at the collection sites.
In total our chapter collected close to 600 stuffed animals and toys. God definitely blessed the children of our communities.
The following agencies that benefited from the collection were as follows:
Smith County
Tennessee Department of Children’s
Services Smith County
Smith County Sheriff’s Office
Smith County Emergency Management
Carthage Fire Department
Gordonsville City Police Department
Carthage City Police Department
South Carthage Police Department
Gordonsville Fire Department
Gordonsville Rescue 911
Monoville Rescue 911
Defeated Fire Department
TN Highway Patrol
The following agencies that benefited from the collection in DeKalb County are as follows:
DeKalb County Ambulance Service
Smithville Fire Department
DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office
DeKalb County EMS/911
Smithville Police Department
Alexandria Police Department
Alexandria Fire Department
DeKalb County Department of
Children’s Services
TN Highway Patrol
In total there were twenty agencies that benefited from the efforts of our Order of the Eastern Star men and women. Our Masonic brothers were also an intricate party to our efforts from encouraging others to donate in helping with the cause.
As stated earlier, we all are able to impact our communities in a positive way just by following Christian values such as charity, compassion, and brotherly love. Kindness in a humanitarian mindset is a powerful presentation to our neighbors. Loving our communities can go viral if we all continue to pay forward the patience and good favor awarded to us from God. 
