The Children’s Shopping Tour in Pampa is held every year in December. It’s purpose is to teach children about the joy and spirit of giving during the Holidays instead of just receiving. It is considered to be one of the best community service projects in the nation, and by some’s standards, the world.
Volunteers from all over Gray County come together to take children Christmas shopping for their families. It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the children, and the community works hard to make it a special event for them.
Children are picked up at their homes by volunteers and treated to a shopping trip, followed by a gift-wrapping party and several fun activities including coloring contests at the Pampa Optimist Club.
John Warner is the last of the founding members still involved in the program, which is very dear to his servant’s heart.
“The Children’s Shopping Tour was first done in December of 1963. A new member of the JC’s (at the time) said they did a shopping tour in Kansas. He described that it was for children between the ages of 5 and 10 who had never been Christmas shopping before. I was privileged to be the first chair,” said John Warner.
“We took six children shopping (that year). Our budget was $60. They (the children) each had $10 to buy presents for everyboy in their family.
“The builder’s Sunday School class from the First Christian Church helped to sponsor the very first Children’s Shopping Tour.”
Fast forward to December 2018, the Children’s Shopping Tour served 45 children and their 255 family members with a budget of $18,000, which was exceeded. The organization has only grown since 1963 despite being what Warner considers to be “One of Pampa’s best kept secrets.” The organization has served as many as 125 children and as many as 415 family members including the children in a year.
“This year we have alloted $60 per family member. So if a little girl, for example, is buying for mommy, daddy and little brother, she will have $180 to buy gifts for them,” says Warner.
The Salvation Army estimates that there are about 1,000 people a year in Gray County that are in need around the Holidays.
“This project is designed to serve about 40 percent of that need,” says Warner.
The Salvation Army and the Human Health and Services Department will be taking applications for the Children’s Shopping Tour and determining child’s eligibility for the program.
“The Salvation Army and The Health and Human Services Department screen the children in order to ensure that the children don’t go more than once, and we use their social security numbers to keep track,” says Warner.
The funding of this program relies on the generosity of citizens and organizations in Gray County.
“This is a community project,” said Warner. “Churches help us and civic clubs help us. We work with the Salvation Army and Tralee Crisis Center, and if we have money leftover, we often use it to fund “Angels” that were not adopted from their (Salvation Army) Angel Trees.
“Walmart has worked with us for 25 years on this project. They have made substancial contributions to us from the Walmart Foundation,” said Warner. “They also give a 10 percent discount for the shoppers. When you consider that within a couple of hours that we spend somewhere between $15,000 and $18,000, it adds up to quite a bit.
“We have had tremendous support from the Police Departent, the Sheriff’s Office, Roberts County Sheriff’s Office, Highway Patrol and our local Fire Department.”
It costs $75 to sponsor a child for the Shopping Tour, and there are several private donors who choose to do so every year.
“The First Baptist Church has always been very generous, the Presbyterian Church has always been very generous. The sunday school classes from Calvary Baptist and First United Methodist Churches help. We have different groups that will run projects for this,” said Warner.
“I used to teach a junior high Sunday school class, and they would have a servant auction where they would volunteer to shovel snow, rake leaves, babysit, house sit, pet sit, one of them even gave horseback riding lessons. The money would then be donated to the Shopping Tour and they would give anywhere from $650 - $1000 a year to it. Over a period of years, they donated over $14,000 to the Shopping Tour.”
There are a lot of moving parts to the project which requires several volunteers to function properly.
“Our mayor leads a group of Lion’s Club members on the Thursday before the tour to go to the homes that don’t have phones to remind the parents that the Shopping Tour will be coming up on Saturday, and that someone will be there at 9 a.m. to pick up their child,” said Warner.
“Before we did that, we used to average about five to six no-shows a year. It killed us to know that the need was there but they forgot. It’s very rare to have a no-show anymore now that we do that.”
Once all participating parties are aware of the Shopping Tour taking place, the real project begins.
“We use the Optimist Club Gym and the Optimist Club Meeting Room. And basically what happens is on Dec. 14 at 8 a.m. we will start registering volunteers. We need approxiamately 150-200 volunteers every year to run the project. We ask those who are going to drive to bring a copy of their drive’s license and their insurance, that’s for the children’s protection,” said Warner.
“AJ Taylor with the New Horizon Community Fellowship and the Kiwanis Club is in charge of the Saturday morning (volunteer registration) organization.”
“When they (volunteers) go to register, they are given the names, ages and (clothing) sizes of everyone in the children’s household.”
Volunteers are given coffee, orange juice and donuts courtesy of the Salvation Army and Tralee Crisis Center.
“If there are any leftovers, later on the kids polish it off pretty quick,” Warner laughed.
“Then at 8:30 a.m., the volunteers will hear an orientation by the General Chair, Amy Crohm. She will explain the project (to the volunteers),”
“For example, she will explain that children are not to buy presents for themselves, but they are to buy presents for their family and that for most of them (the children), it’s the first time they’ve ever been able to give at Christmas.
“The concept is to teach them that Christmas is about giving, as Christ didn’t come to receive, he came to give. That’s what it’s all about. It’s not a welfare project, It’s basically a one-time thing so that children can understand and experience Christmas and giving.”
After the orientation, volunteers spread out and pick up the children to take them shopping. Sandy Carr from Crime Stoppers puts a brochure together about the project and prints it off in both English and in Spanish, so that when the volunteers go to pick up the child at their homes they can answer any questions parents may have. Volunteers wear special badges to indicate that they are with the Children’s Shopping tour project.
The children are allowed to choose where they would like to shop for their gifts.
“The children can go anywhere they want to, but invariably they want to go to Walmart. It’s a big deal for them to go to Walmart with their own money and buy stuff,” Warner laughed.
“When they check out at Walmart, the Kiwanis Club and the Lion’s Club checks to make sure they don’t buy any improper things like alcohol, guns, tobacco products, gift cards and other things along that line.
“They also mark out the barcode. In the past, we had issues with parents exchanging the gifts for cash. They also check to make sure that the children don’t go over their budget.
“We ask that the volunteers don’t spend any of their own money on the children, because we want to treat them all equal.”
After the children do their Christmas shopping, the volunteers bring them back to the Optimist Club where Crime Stoppers sponsors a gift-wrapping party.
“They’ve got boxes, bows, ribbons, cards, scissors, tape, all of that,” said Warner. “If I remember right, we wrapped something like 1,284 packages last year.”
“It’s an absolute zoo,” joked Warner. “Think about it, you have 100 kids wrapping their first Christmas package. Boy, those packages are wrapped, let me tell you. It takes dynamite to get in one,” he laughed.
Afterwards, the children head to the Optimist Meeting Room and the Catholic Youth help to entertain those who have finished shopping and wrapping gifts.
“We sing Christmas carols, we hear Christmas stories,” says Warner. “Normally, a youth minister or a pastor of a local church will give the ‘reason for the season’ talk.
“United Way and the Chamber of Commerce sponsor a coloring contest for the children. They furnish candy canes for prizes. So you have a prize for the ‘Most Colorful’, the most ‘Stayed in the Lines’ for each age group, 5-6, 7-8, 9-10.
“We’ve made arrangements for Santa to come and bring a gift for each child. Sometimes, depending on the number of children we have, we take pictures of the children with Santa for them to have as a souvenir.”
All of the volunteers and children are also treated to a hamburger dinner with all of the trimmings.
As the children are leaving, the Giddeon Society offers them a New Testament Bible in either English or Spanish, their choice.
“Last year, for the first time, we were able to furnish caps and coats for all the kids. So as they leave, they will be outfitted,” said Warner. His voice was filled with emotion as he finished his thought, saying “The day before, we buy all the sizes and have their names on them so that they will have a warm coat for Christmas.”
After the festivities are over, the children are taken home to their families.
“We try to take them home between 12 and 12:30 p.m,” said Warner.
The Children’s Shopping Tour has received international praise from multiple organizations.
“In July (2008), My wife and I went to the Optimist International Convention in Florida, and Optimist International said that the Children’s Shopping Tour was the outstanding community service project in the nation,” Warner said. “The following month, Altrusa went to Indianapolis and Altrusa International proclaimed it (Children’s Shopping Tour) was the most outstanding community project in the world.”
“I think that says a lot about our community and the heart that it has for children at Christmas time.”
Warner recalled a time that the community went above and beyond for the project.
“In 2007, we got the word about 6 a.m. that Saturday morning, that road conditions were horrible. Highway Patrol was saying ‘stay off the highways, only an idiot would get out in this weather.’ High School Events, basketball tournaments, etc. had all been totally cancelled. We were trying to decide whether to go ahead with it (Children’s Shopping Tour) or postpone it to the next week. Kerrick Horton and Judy Warner were the co-chairs to Altrusa, and they made the decision to go ahead with it. They went on the radio and made a plea, and we had 250 volunteers show up that day. It is the biggest turnout of volunteers we have ever had. We exceeded our budget (that year).”
Mr.Warner reminisced on an interaction after a previous shopping trip with a child that had touched his heart. His eyes filled with tears and you could hear the clear emotion in his voice as he said “Years ago, my wife and I were chaperoning a 10 year old boy and as he walked out of the Optimist Club with his family’s presents, he looked at me and said ‘Mr. Warner, this is the happiest day of my life.’
“For me, it puts the spirit of Christmas in the season every year. Every year, it’s amazing to me because we have so many people, that if they didnt do their job, the project would not be a success. It’s amazing to see how everybody works with these kids. When we go to Walmart, the clerks really make these kids feel special if they have a question or if they need help with their shopping. I remember a picture of three police officers with a little girl and the caption read ‘How many cops does it take to buy a dress?,’ he laughed.
Members of the Children’s Shopping Tour steering committee are AJ Taylor, Anna Kelley, Sandy Carr, Clay Carr, Robert Jacobs, David Moore, Delma Sanchez, Kevin Davis, Amy Crohm and John Warner.
For more information about the Children’s Shopping Tour, to sponsor a child or to volunteer, you can contact the Salvation Army or the Health and Human Services Department in Pampa.
