Organizers for the Al Millard Memorial Stocking Full of Love expect to make Christmas brighter for about 1,000 needy Walker County children this Christmas.

The charity’s board named the effort after the Walker County sheriff who organized it, Sheriff Steve Wilson said. Millard died of cancer seven years after establishing the charity.

“He put so much energy and time into it, and was so passionate about helping needy children,” Wilson said. “Part of his legacy was helping those in need.”

Millard organized the first Stocking Full of Love toy drive to provide Christmas presents for needy children in 1989, Wilson said.

“The first year they had a small ‘toy store’ in the back of the commissioner’s office,” Wilson said. “It was mostly used toys and probably served less than 50 children.”

Millard built the charity based on the model used in Catoosa County by former Catoosa Sheriff Ronnie Bowman, Wilson said.

Since then the toy store has moved to Oakwood Baptist Church in Chickamauga and has ballooned. About 950 children were served last year, he said.

Each child received four gifts, which totaled about $35,000 in merchandise.

The current sheriff always serves as president of the organization and coordinates several fundraisers throughout the year.

Fundraising efforts managed by Wilson and the board include a Labor Day car show, charity basketball game between Roper Corp. and Blue Bird Inc., Blue Knights motorcycle toy run, Chattanooga Valley four-wheeler run, Barwick-LaFayette Airport fly-in and other events.

Toys will be distributed on Saturday, Dec. 18, beginning at 9 a.m. at Oakwood Baptist Church on Oakwood Street in Chickamauga, he said.

The LaFayette-based Empty Stocking Fund augments the Stocking Full of Love by providing food to those who qualify, Wilson said.

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To help the Stocking Full of Love


Donations can be mailed to the Walker County Stocking Full of Love, c/o Walker County Sheriff’s Department, P.O. Box 767, LaFayette, GA, 30728. Anyone interested in volunteering to distribute toys is asked to call the Walker County Sheriff’s Department at (706) 638-1909, extension 295.

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