STAR CITY, Ark.- A mother and grandmother who is on a mission to give back, showing the community that hospitality never goes out of style.
“I’m a garage sale freak.”
Angela Murray loves a good bargain, but not as much as she loves helping her neighbors.
“I’ve seen my mother, my grandmother, go in their closets to get stuff just to make sure everybody had what they needed,” says Angela Murray.
Where she lives in Star City there is no shortage.
“A good 80 percent of Lincoln County is poverty,”
Whether a parent has lost a job, a home due to a fire, or their children have just outgrown their clothes, Murray is there.
“And to make everybody feel like no matter what was going on with them, they could walk through our door and say is there any way you can help us.”
In just the first sixth months, her non-profit Mission Choices provided clothing, household and school supplies to nearly 675 families.
“Everything Mission does is free. We don’t charge anybody anything to come in,” she told KARK.
With donations from the community coming in just as fast, Murray convinced her cousin Denise West to open a second location in Yell County.
“It’s something that we can kind of pass down to our children and our grandchildren and teach them how to give back, instead of thinking its all about me,” explains Murray.
Mission Choices also helps connect people with help from other local and state agencies, like the Arkansas Department of Workforce Services.
“A lot of times when they come in, we help them fill out any paper work.”
Wednesday, KARK decided to pop in and Pay it 4Ward with $250 in VISA gift cards.
“That is great. Thank y’all so much. This will so far,” says Murray.
Murray put the money back into Mission Choices for its annual school supply drive. According to Murray, our donation, along with a grant, bake sale and auction, allowed Mission Choices to give back packs and supplies to 170 students this year. Families who applied for the school supplies can also pick out 10 outfits and two pairs of shoes for each child every three months.
To learn more about Mission Choices, visit HERE.
