A local service organization is once again hoping to provide ‘Bundles of Love’ to children in need throughout the community this year.

For the past few years, the TLC Community Center has sponsored the Bundles of Love project to provide children in the community with some of the basic necessities their families may struggle to provide.

“This will be our fourth year doing ‘Bundles,’” TLC Community Center Director Angie Odom said.

Around Christmas, many local churches participate in Operation Christmas Child that sends a shoebox packed with needed items to children overseas along with a Christian message. While the outreach ministry of Operation Christmas Child is a wonderful way to impact the life of a child, Odom said she saw children here in the local community that could benefit from the same type of outreach.  That need was the inspiration for “Bundles of Love.”

Each “Bundle” includes a hat, gloves, socks, personal hygiene items, school supplies, a small toy, and a note of encouragement sharing God’s love.

Many families across the community struggle financially, Odom said, and they may not be able to provide these items for their children.

“Area organizations give out school supplies in July or August, but those supplies don’t last all school year,” Odom said. “Children also have to wait at bus stops out in the cold without gloves or hats, and many times they don’t have proper winter clothing.”

Last year, the TLC Community Center delivered 900 bundles to children throughout the community that were either clients of the Center’s programs or were referred by the school systems or other service organizations.

“We hope to get 1,000 this year,” Odom said. “That would be great.”

Odom said the Center is once again looking to the local community to help with the project by donating either fully packaged bundles or donating items to be included in the bundles. In addition to donations, Odom said the Center will also need volunteers to help assemble the bundles after the donations are collected.

Last year, individuals from several local churches volunteered with the project as well as members of the local Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2166, the Elizabethton Elks Lodge, and the Elizabethton Moose Lodge.

The TLC Community Center will accept donations from Sept. 5 through Nov. 20 for the bundles. The Center will deliver the bundles to the children in early December.

For more information about the TLC Community Center, the Bundles of Love project, to make a donation, or to refer a child, please contact Angie Odom at 423-543-4673.