Sandra McKinney has been selected to serve as the General Chair for the annual Children’s Shopping Tour, which will take place this Saturday, December 6, 2025, beginning at 8 AM at the Pampa Optimist Youth Club.
Ms. McKinney has been a long-time volunteer of the Steering Committee, which coordinates the project each year. In her 20 years of service on the committee, she has taken children shopping, has been in charge of the Saturday morning registration, has invited children to attend, has been involved in the screening process to determine eligibility for children who participate in the Tour, and has been in charge of recruiting the 150 to 200 volunteers needed each year to carry out the Tour.
The General Chair is retired after 32 years of service to the Health and Human Services Commission. She is a member of First Baptist Church. She has been a director and cooked hamburgers for the Pampa High School Choir Booster’s Club. She is presently serving as the President of the Altrusa Club of Pampa.
“The Children’s Shopping Tour teaches children that Christmas is about giving, not receiving,” she said. “It helped me teach my son, Aaron, the importance of giving to others.” She continued, “It made such an impact on his life when he was in high school that he came from Austin to participate a couple of years. He has moved back to Pampa and is an enthusiastic supporter of the Tour.”
“Volunteering is a great way to start off the Christmas season,” McKinney concluded. “It is a wonderful community project. We have between 35 and 40 organizations participating each year who make up a large portion of the volunteers we need to carry out the project.”
The Tour is expected to serve 300 family members this year and an estimated 75 children from 2nd to 5th grade who will participate in the Tour. Applications for children to be involved can be made online at info@childrensshoppingtour.com. Donations may be made online at the same website.
This will be the 63rd year the Tour has taken children shopping at Christmas. They do not buy presents for themselves, but for members of their families. For most of the children, it will be the first time they have ever experienced giving at Christmas.
