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HUGULEY — 2022 Valleywide Christmas Parade Grand Marshal Cheryl Myers had a great time in Thursday evening’s Christmas Parade and the next morning was hard at work in getting ready for this year’s Christmas rush. She’s the long-time director of the Christian Service Center, an organization that helps local families in need, especially during the Christmas season.

“It was amazing!” she said of her ride from Lanett, through West Point to Valley. She rode in a big white Suburban with her husband Hermon and son Tony. The Myers’ 10-year-old granddaughter Carly Eddy sat on the back seat of a convertible just behind the Grand Marshal vehicle. “She had such a good time. and that meant a lot to us,” Myers sai8d.

“I’m like a kid when it comes to a Christmas parade,” Myers said. “We all enjoyed it so much.”

Unlike a number of other charitable organizations, the Christian Service Center does not have a cutoff date in advance of Christmas Eve. “We still have people calling us for help,” she said. “The last thing in the world we want is for someone who needs help to miss out on Christmas.”

People who live from paycheck to paycheck are sometimes in a fix in the last few days before December 25th. “They get cut off just before Christmas, have no money and don’t know where to turn,” Myers said. “Some women are dependent on a man to help them, and at the last minute he disappoints them. In some cases, people had a plan for Christmas, but it fell through.”

Donations always helps the Christian Service Center with it mission to help as many needy people as they can during the Christmas season. New toys and gift items for those in the 11 to 13-year-old age group are in short supply.

The Christian Service Center is located on Cusseta Road near the junction with FOP Road. It is open from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. every Monday through Thursday.

Myers said it has been a good year for donations so far, and she appreciates the support they have gotten from local churches, businesses, civic organizations and individuals. “A lot of people have come through for us,” she said. “It means a lot to us, and it lets us help those in need.”