Children who attend the A Mother’s Touch child-care center on Airview Drive are seen Friday with food items collected for 200 Surry County families for Thanksgiving. From the left are Macy Sutphin, Maddy Clifton, Emerson Puckett, Jenna Jefferson and center operator Debbie Smith, who is holding Allie Sutphin.

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A project involving a local day-care center has shown that even small children can do their part to feed the hungry in Surry County.

For about the past month, kids who attend the A Mother’s Touch child-care facility on Airview Drive helped collect food for 200 families in time for Thanksgiving.

On Friday, the basement of the center housed in the home of owners Greg and Debbie Smith was filled with the usual toys and other items normally found in a day-care facility. But in one corner of the room was the unusual sight of stacks of canned vegetables and stuffing mix that were achieved through the effort.

This is the second year that the center has conducted a holiday food drive, Debbie Smith said. The facility, which includes both pre-school and after-school components, serves seven children ranging in age from 6 months to 9 years.

The drive is held in conjunction with Matthew 25:35 Inc., a local non-profit organization that supplements the work of area food banks through various projects.

A Mother’s Touch raised the food through a number of methods, beginning with notices sent home to parents. The help of grandparents and others also was enlisted as the effort spread.

“And it was advertised on Facebook and at Fellowship Baptist Church that we attend,” Debbie Smith explained.

Door-to-door and store solicitations were part of the campaign as well, which Smith said proved that the cute face of a child can work wonders when it comes to aiding charitable causes.

Just on Thursday night, one of the children, Emerson Puckett, visited multiple businesses and reaped 125 boxes of food. Emerson said Friday that she had a good time working to “get stuff in for Miss Debbie,” the day-care operator.

The final “haul” was 400 cans each of vegetables such as green beans and corn and packages of stuffing mix, which will be combined with turkeys and potatoes to be supplied today by Matthew 25:35.

In all, the collections are resulting in 200 boxes filled with two each of the different items which will be delivered by the Smiths and other members of Matthew 25:35 on Monday. School officials identified the recipients to ensure those most in need will be helped, Smith said.

Reach Tom Joyce at 719-1924 or tjoyce@heartlandpublications.com.