TULSA, Okla. — Each bag carried by parents and guardians at The Common Good Tulsa's Christmas Joy shopping event contains needed relief and happiness for northwest Tulsa families.
“The great thing about this program is that they provide the parents an opportunity to shop for gifts and presents," Wayman Tisdale Fine Arts Academy's principal Ericka Davis told 2 News.
"(The Common Good Tulsa) provides wrapping paper, gift bags, and whatever parents may need to support their kids through the holidays. And then they have a big room where the kids can go and play, do coloring games, activities, and all the things. So it still gets to be a surprise what they’re getting.”
The Common Good Tulsa focuses on the underprivileged 74127 zip code, which historically suffers from high poverty and crime.
Community Relations Director Gretchen Guillette told 2 News that the 2024 donation campaign, which culminated with Sunday’s event, was its biggest yet, helping over 200 families.
“It’s families living in challenging times," Guillette said. "And this is just one way we can bring joy, hope, and fun come Christmas morning.”
Donations come in all sizes from businesses, faith groups, and even ordinary people who want to set their own Oklahoma standard.
The work also has an impact on volunteers like Rusty Rowe from Food on The Move, which provided 300 bags of fresh produce.
“I live in this zip code," Rowe said. "This zip code has an unfortunate nickname of ‘the forgotten zip code of Tulsa'...So anything we can do to jump in with the common good to help out this community, we want to be there.”
The Common Good Tulsa's Northwest Hub also accepts good Samaritans to come volunteer or donate any weekday throughout the year.
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