It concerned him that so many people needed that help during the Christmas season. It comforted him that the church could provide it.

“It’s not that (people aren’t) working,” Cummings said. “Some are probably not working, but there are some who work every day. They just don’t have enough to do extra. And the truth is, in your daily struggle, Christmas is extra. So we’re trying to do something extra to help them with this holiday.”

The Christmas giveaway, now in its 32nd year, helped 480 people who came through the Dream Center’s doors. That marked the most people who took advantage of the multiple giveaways the church holds at the center each year, Cummings said.

People were able to take home food items like ham, corn, green beans, regular and sweet potatoes, pineapple and other fruits and vegetables, soups and other items. That, Cummings said, should be enough to make good meals for about a week. Cummings added that, near the end, volunteers went back out to the grocery store to get more hams, as they were running out.

photo by: Photo by Derek Redd

Volunteers distributed food to hundreds Saturday at the Bethlehem Apostolic Temple's annual Christmas giveaway, held at the North Wheeling Dream Center.

Meanwhile, children could walk around different tables filled with toys and pick out a few to take home. First responders from agencies like the Wheeling Fire Department and Ohio County Sheriff’s Office brought those kids inside from the Saturday morning snow flurries so they could have more time to peruse the tables.

They also could chose warm winter items. Cummings said he watched one girl go right past the toy tables and make a beeline for the coats, ecstatic that she could choose a new winter coat.

Wheeling University men’s basketball coach Chris Richardson brought several players with him Saturday to help volunteer. He talks to them a lot about perspective, about how they may be looking for ways to win basketball games, but others’ struggles are much deeper.

Richardson appreciates the chance his team has to alleviate a little bit of those struggles by helping out at events like Saturday’s giveaway.

“The thing that makes you feel good is how may people who stepped up to help,” Richardson said. “We’re happy to be a small part of that. I think it speaks to the love for your neighbor there is in the Ohio Valley, and that’s something we talk about a lot as a team, helping your neighbor and being of service.”

Cummings emphasizes that the volunteers who come out each year to assist in the giveaway are the main reason it has thrived for more than three decades. He loves how, every year, people in the Ohio Valley come together to make the holiday a little brighter for those who need it most.

“With the help of our community, we’re hopefully able to make a small difference, at least for a week, at least for a couple of meals,” Cummings said. “We’ve given them something that hopefully they’re thankful for.”