Members of Liberty County 4-H’s Crafty Corners Club on Friday presented a very special gift to LaDona Andrews, a child support enforcement agent with Liberty County’s Child Support Services.
The knitting-club members gave Andrews a blanket they’d handmade, which she would then pass on to a mother in need to help keep her child warm through the cold months ahead.
Before accepting the group’s gift, Andrews addressed the club on the importance of community service and helping those in need.
“The first thing when I think about 4-H and community service … is, ‘am I my brother’s keeper?’” she said. “Not meaning your brother literally … I’m talking about anyone who may be in need.
“I am my brother’s keeper, and I think by being that type of person, it makes you so much more of a better person,” Andrews continued. “You’re always mindful of others, you’re caring … and it also allows you to interact with other people.”
Andrews told those in attendance about the support her office provides to families in need and the special lengths they go to around the holidays to ensure basic necessities are met.
She said that every year, she and her co-workers choose about 12-15 families who are most in need and provide Christmas for them. She told the group that they would present the blanket to a mother “who is in most need, who has either an infant or a little child.”
“She doesn’t have a blanket; she doesn’t have maybe even clothes for the baby,” Andrews said. “But guess what? They’re going to have your 4-H blanket.”
Liberty County 4-H Agent Kasey Bozeman said that the Crafty Corners Club was started about two years ago by Liona Graves, a 4-H volunteer. The Crafty Corners Club is one of many specialty clubs offered by 4-H.
“All I can say is, any opportunity that you ever get where you meet someone and they have a need, if you can, meet that need,” Andrews said in closing. “Sometimes, it’s just a smile or a shake, a ‘how are you today?’ Sometimes, the needs can be much greater, like feeding a family.
“But the good thing is, by you doing it, it only broadens your own outlook on life.”