The Mobile Division Chapter of the Alabama Power Service Organization (APSO) has stepped in for Santa in Bayou La Batre this holiday season.
APSO members are making Christmas brighter by providing gifts for Vietnamese-American seniors and children living in the community.
“There is a large Vietnamese-American population in Bayou La Batre, and many of the people are fishermen,” said Sharon Murrill, community relations manager in Alabama Power‘s Mobile Division. “Because the fishing in Bayou La Batre is not what it once was due to the oil spill in the Gulf several years ago, I thought that perhaps our chapter could help those families.”
To that end, Murrill reached out to Boat People SOS (BPSOS)-Bayou La Batre, a nonprofit organization that provides direct services and resources to Vietnamese-Americans in Mobile County. Murrill learned that some of the Vietnamese-American children in Bayou La Batre would not receive Christmas presents. She asked BPSOS to provide the Mobile APSO Chapter with a wish list, limiting the gift amounts to $75 to $100 per child.
“I told the kids they could pick out anything they wanted, within this limit. They were really excited,” said Dave Do, program coordinator, BPSOS-Bayou La Batre. “They don’t usually get to pick the present of their choice.”
With the list in hand, Murrill shopped online, buying everything from tennis shoes and clothes to keyboards, Paw Patrol toys and bicycles.
Mobile Division APSO bought gifts for 28 children with the $2,500 that had been set aside for the project.
Do said BPSOS is planning to give the presents from APSO at a Christmas party.
Meanwhile, Murrill learned about another need facing the community.
“When I was delivering the presents to Dave, he mentioned that the seniors living in one of the apartment complexes down there had no way of getting to the store to buy groceries, and BPSOS could not afford to buy them a vehicle,” Murrill said. “He wondered if we could help them get bicycles equipped with baskets for their groceries.”
The Mobile Chapter stepped up to meet this need as well. The chapter worked with the Delta Bike Project in Mobile to get five bicycles for the seniors.
“Our APSO members volunteered at the Delta Bike Project’s annual Gears and Beers fundraiser about a month ago, so they allowed us to use those volunteer hours to earn bicycles for the boat people,” Murrill said.
BPSOS-Bayou La Batre is part of a national organization established in the 1980s to rescue Vietnamese boat people who were escaping across the ocean to seek freedom in the United States. Since then, the organization has rescued more than 35,000 people. Along with rescues, BPSOS provides academic support and educational resources, helps point Vietnamese-Americans to healthcare services, and assists victims of domestic violence.
“I’m really grateful that Miss Sharon and APSO offered to help our seniors and our kids,” said Do. “The economy is really bad down there, and we couldn’t afford to buy cars for the seniors or enough presents for all the kids.”
Murrill said APSO was thrilled to help these families.
“With me taking on this new role as community relations manager, it has afforded me the opportunity to reach out on behalf of the Mobile Chapter to populations we haven’t served in the past,” said Murrill. “Helping the children and seniors in this community is important because it lets them know they’re not forgotten.”
(Courtesy of Alabama NewsCenter)
