While the “Brighter Christmas” event has been going on for seven years, it also makes the holidays just that much brighter for those on the giving end.

The annual McKinney Vento Brighter Day Christmas gift giveaway was held at the Liberty County School System’s central office Wednesday morning, with 50 families driving up to the front doors and school personnel, Hinesville fire fighters and soldiers bringing arm loads to gifts to load into their vehicles.

“We look forward to this every year,” said schools social worker Crystal Bell. “It’s so rewarding, just to see the children and their smiles and the parents’ smiles. It’s a feeling you can’t even describe.”

The schools refer families in need to the central office and the school system’s social workers also have a hand in selecting families to receive the gifts. A common denominator for the families is they have experienced homelessness or housing instability during the year.

Wednesday’s gifts meant “a lot” to Jamie Eastridge, as items for her three children — ages 15, 13 and 7 — were delivered to her truck.

The Eastridges had a house fire on June 20 and lost everything.

“Our two youngest were supposed to be there,” she said. “They changed their minds at the last minute and came with us.”

Since, the Eastridges have been fighting with their insurance company. They’re living in a rental home, but the insurance company is about to stop paying for it, she said, and they still have a mortgage to cover.

“It’s about to be over $4,000 a month just to have a home to live in,” she said.

As they asked their kids what they wanted for Christmas, Eastridge said her daughter wrote down three things but then felt she was asking for too much. The Eastridges children are in the gifted programs and make straight As, she said.

“It’s been rough, but they are amazing,” she said of her two sons and one daughter. Christmas is our holiday. We’ve raised our kids so they know what the real meaning is. They’re good kids. I couldn’t ask for better kids, so I won’t complain when they ask for more items than normal. They’ll be extremely happy.”

Donations to the program started weeks ago, and the volunteers to help deliver the gifts included members of the local Omega Psi Phi fraternity.

“It takes the community, it takes our family here at the central office, it takes the schools, it takes everybody,” Bell said. “We are so grateful for everybody who helps us and donates.”

The gratitude from those driving up to receive the gifts was also evident Wednesday morning.

“I didn’t even know this kind of program existed, so I’m very thankful for it,” Eastridge said.

Eastridge also expressed thanks for the community and for their adopted home of Liberty County.

“I wouldn’t change for it the world,” she said.