Warming hearts one coat at a time
By Brandon Davis
Published in News on November 5, 2016 10:17 PM
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MOUNT OLIVE -- Amid several racks of gently-used jackets and winter coats hangs a rainbow-colored number unlike any of the others.
Waiting anxiously with her mother and brother, a 7-year-old girl in need of warm clothing tugs at her mother's arm.
Katia Boykin eyes the two tickets in her hand, No. 190 for her daughter, Aashka, and No. 191 for her 5-year-old son, Ijlal.
It's 9:30 a.m.
Ticket 91 had just been called.
First Baptist Church's Christian Life Center opened its doors at 9 a.m. Saturday morning for the fourth consecutive year of the Warm the World's winter clothes giveaway.
The Boykins, who lived without power for six days after Hurricane Matthew hit Wayne County, waited patiently for their numbers to be called.
Once inside, a little girl and a unique coat found one-another.
"It's different," Aashka said of the rainbow coat that had caught her eye. She doesn't know if it will be hanging on the rack when her number is called, but she will be happy to have a coat to show off at her school,Carver Elementary, next week.
Her brother eyed a blue coat hanging in the women's section, but Ms. Boykin tried to tell him it was not a boy's coat.
Ijlal didn't care.
"Blue's my favorite color," he said, who attends Carver Elementary as well.
The Boykins were among 200 people who endured the chilly morning air while waiting for their number to be called. With their numbers heard they poured into the church to try on coats and gloves.
Dr. Ashley Long with Mount Olive Family Medicine serves on the church's mission committee. She said 142 people arrived at the church before the doors opened.
"If there's a need we can fill, it's good," she said. "That's what we're meant to do, to help people. To have a coat for the winter is something that's essential."
Mrs. Long assisted Bill Boughman with a much-needed, gold winter jacket. She helped him put his arms through each sleeve to see if it fit.
It fit, and Boughman placed it in his bag before he picked out other winter items.
"I'm just getting a jacket and a coat and maybe a blanket, sweater or whatever," he said.
Next to Boughman stood Robert King who tried on a beige coat to match his shirt.
He remembers the Christian Life Center being an A & P Food Market, but he was happy the church gave away coats Saturday.
"It's nice," he said. "Anytime you set up something to help somebody that they ain't got anything, it's nice. It's nice in here."
Felicia Fox, the church's associate pastor of students, said the church committed to help people living in southern Wayne County. She said First Baptist Church in Goldsboro gave away winter clothes as well on the same day.
"It's a good opportunity for us to love on our neighbors who are right here in our community, to meet a need right here instead of just writing a check or sending assistance to other places," Fox said.