Giving back this holiday season, Part 2

DECEMBER 20, 2019 | COLLEGE NEWS

The Kelly family enjoyed a morning filled with great food, arts and crafts, free
haircuts, and gifts from Santa.

Brenda Frazier is a Medical Administrative Specialist program instructor on the Clearwater campus of Pinellas Technical College (PTC-CLW) by day and an angel by night. Well, an Angel Tree® coordinator, that is. For seven years, she has made sure children with incarcerated parents aren't left out during Christmas time.

"For some of these kids, this might be the only thing they get," she said.

Frazier took over the coordinating duties at her place of worship, Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, and has given gifts to hundreds of children since 2012. Her church is one of the thousands that participate in this national ministry. Angel Tree® is an initiative of Prison Fellowship, which began in 1982 and has become the largest outreach for children of prisoners.

Brenda Frazier has been an Angel Tree® coordinator since 2012.

Starting last year, Frazier went a step further and included gifts for homeless children attending Melrose Elementary. Between the children with incarcerated parents and the displaced families, 146 boys and girls from 53 families were able to receive gifts from the 33712 area code this year.

Angel Tree® relies on local churches and groups to give hundreds of thousands of children a gift, the Gospel, and a personal message of love on behalf of their incarcerated parent. This year alone, more than 300,000 children will have a Christmas.

The gift-giving process is quite simple. A prisoner must contact their chaplain, who, in turn, will get the information to an Angel Tree® coordinator closest to the child. A coordinator, in this case, Frazier, contacts the caregivers, who can be anyone from the child's mother to a grandparent, uncle, or aunt.

A few anonymous benefactors and members of the church are always happy to help put smiles on the children's faces. Every Sunday, Frazier also makes sure she donates a little extra for the cause.

For the first time, Frazier enlisted the help of volunteers from PTC-CLW. Students in the Baking and Pastry program built a tasty gingerbread house and provided enough blueberry muffins to feed an army. The dual enrollment students on the St. Pete campus made a festive fruit tree, and our very own Liz Brancato crafted decorative bows for the gift bags.

Stephanie Wynn is seen here cutting Ty'Shon's hair from Bay Point
Elementary School.

Three Barbering program students showed off their clipper skills on a host of young people.  One such student was Stephanie Wynn, who cuts hair for free every Monday at Mister'z Barber Lounge for the homeless and jumped at the chance to help bring a merry Christmas to children in need.

Jeremy Hurguy has been in the Barbering program since June. He
jumped at the chance to volunteer his time.

"My passion is to serve others," Wynn expressed.

For the last three years, Frazier has included the PTC program brochure in each gift bag. She's had attendees contact her later and start school.

"It's another avenue of marketing to let people know there is something out there for them. Unfortunately, a lot of the people that we're dealing with are living paycheck to paycheck with no viable skills."

Rodney Arrowl will finish the Barbering program in a few months
and has already secured a job. He's seen here cutting Yakyra's hair
from Thurgood Marshall Middle School.

Frazier has repeatedly said that this is her last year coordinating the effort, but no one believes her because she can't say no to a child in need.

If you are an instructor and would like your program featured, please call Lyn Johnson in the Office of Workforce Innovation at 727-893-2500 ext. 2655.