A shopping experience with a twist is allowing local parents to provide Christmas for their children, while also maintaining independent.

Christmas Village Toy Store is the answer to the prayers of families who are hoping for happier holidays but who are not looking for a free ride.

Donna Sheets, outreach coordinator and online campus minister with Covenant Church, and Blake Smith, campus pastor for Covenant’s Beaufort County congregation, have been busy this week organizing the store, which is located at LifeQuest Inc., the former Washington High School.

The nonprofit outreach project is being supported by four local churches; joining Covenant are Washington’s First Baptist, First United Methodist and First Christian churches, according to Smith.

The churches and local organizations have banded together to help make this Christmas merrier for local families facing financial difficulties. Donated items will be available for sale Friday and Saturday, with the new gifts marked with wholesale and yard sale-type prices.

“It’s not a hand-out, it’s a hand up,” Sheets noted.

This is an invitation-only event, with those invitations provided to families recommended by local churches, schools and organizations. Families receiving invitations were also scheduled for a specific day and time to do their holiday shopping.

This is the first year such an event has been held in Beaufort County, but already there are plans to make it even bigger for next year.

“The beauty of this outreach is that it allows families to keep their dignity, to provide Christmas for themselves and ultimately give them hope,” Smith said. “Everyone faces difficult times at some point in their lives, and this is a way of restoring hope in a dark time.”

Although the event is not open to the general public, hundreds of people will benefit from Christmas Village Toy Store. Each family invited to shop will be able to spend up to $75 in a friendly, festive setting that offers bargains ranging from one dollar to around $25. A personal shopper will accompany parents and assist them with setting a budget and finding just the right gifts for their youngsters. Meanwhile, the children will enjoy a story time, crafts and the opportunity to do a little shopping themselves, according to Sheets and Smith.

A café area will serve up free refreshments, including donated cookies and hot chocolate. Volunteers will also offer free gift wrapping services.

“All proceeds from the shopping excursions will go back into the community,” Sheets added. “We have hired people who are unemployed to help with pricing and stocking in the store.”