The Christmas season is a season of giving, and each year the Christian Love Community Center hosts a Day of Giving.

Wednesday was the third annual Day of Giving for the Christian Love Community Center, and the event served between 150 and 200 people.

“It has grown tremendously,” said Lawanda Bell, youth coordinator at the Christian Love Community Center.

“We keep this going because people are in need and they are hurting.”

Community residents were invited to come to the center from 6 to 8 p.m. and take home any clothes they needed, free of charge.

The community center allowed each person to take home as many clothes as they needed, but limited each person to two large trash bags.

The community center always has a clothes closet that is open to anyone in the community by appointment, and more people are showing a need.

“We went from getting 10 calls a week to getting 20 to 25 calls a week,” Bell said. “We are working hard to meet the needs of the community.”

The clothes for the Day of Giving as well as those in the clothes closet come from Plato’s Closet in Montgomery, as well as donations from the community. A lot of the clothes still have tags on them. If the clothes were not new, they were only slightly worn.

Bell said volunteers travel to Montgomery twice a week to receive clothing donations from Plato’s Closet.

“We are encouraging local businesses to partner with us,” Bell said. “It all just goes right back to the community. We are always accepting donations.”

Bell said people in the community may be unaware of all the services that the community center provides for Troy, and some think they only serve as a daycare.

“Our focus is to make a difference in our community,” Bell said. “There are a lot of people hurting and struggling. We want to empower, strengthen and encourage the entire Troy community.”

Bell especially wanted to thank and recognize Angeline Green, the Christian Love Community Center director, and Troy Mayor Jason Reeves.

“I’d like to give a special thanks to our mayor,” Bell said.

“He supports us and I definitely want to thank him. Without him we wouldn’t be able to do the things we are doing.”