Handing $2,632.21 to Marc Hensley, director of Mountain Outreach, to purchase toys for the annual Holiday Gift Day, is Gayle Troxell, site manager of Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC). Also in the photo is (far left) Program Director Dennis Priscandaro, and employees of CSC.

“We knew we could do something good for the children in the area,” said Gayle Troxell, site manager for CSC. “That’s what Christmas is all about.” CSC employs 500 people from Williamsburg and the surrounding area.

Within three weeks, the staff conducted a “penny wars” contest between various departments. A total of 154,800 pennies were collected, in addition to other coins and bills, to bring the final total to that which was donated to Mountain Outreach’s Gift Day.

“This is local people helping local people,” said Marc Hensley, director of Mountain Outreach. “I was concerned we might not have enough toys for the children, but now I don’t have to worry. I’m overwhelmed.”

The purpose of the annual Holiday Gift Day is to provide families the opportunity to pick up gifts and needed items for the holiday season. Everything is free to qualifying participants.

Since Mountain Outreach’s founding in 1982, thousands of students and other volunteers have built 126 homes, made needed repairs to hundreds of homes, and distributed to thousands of persons clothing, shoes, coats, blankets, personal hygiene products and other items to meet the most basic of needs.