Grilled hamburger and hotdog lunches were served in the lobby as one family after another were escorted into the coliseum proper for five minute shopping sprees.. There several tables were laden with merchandise, everything from wall décor to pickleballs to bedsheets to boxes of diapers. Then, to the right, big ticket items like a grill and cooker, a plush recliner, a shotgun, a baby car safety seat, two deer hunting stands and much more.  There was also a table full of stuffed animals for the kids. 

These items were donated by sponsors around the region. 

Pastor David Holder, Associational Missionary for the ARTex Baptist Association, a group of 35 Southern Baptist churches in southwest Arkansas and northeast Texas, was organizer of the day’s event.  Just one hour in, Holder said about 50 families had already had their sprees.  

Explaining one of the goals for the event, Holder said, “We wanted to have the officers, firefighters, game wardens, sheriff, even correctional officers to come in and, from the moment they hit the door, to feel welcome and appreciated.” 

This was definitely the case as many volunteers, wearing t-shirts marking the occasion, gathered around each family as they entered the shopping spree zone. The volunteers were from many area churches and included Rainbow of Challenges students as well. 

Holder said the Hope Bless the Badges is the first of its kind in Arkansas, there having been two previous events in Texas. “One was done down in South Texas for the border and customs agents. We did this in Texarkana a couple of years ago, and we saw down there the first time it was done at the border a couple of guys came back. We said we could do something like that here. But we started out with nothing, $1 bill, a $100 bill, and we've raised over $25,000.” 

Some pictures from today's event: