AHOSKIE – Thanks to the effort of a local hunt club, the holidays will be a bit brighter for a Gates County family that is a bit down on their luck.

Last week, members of the St. Johns Hunt Club opened up their hearts and their wallets to come to the aid of the Phillip and Brenda Caulk family. According to Rev. Danny Harris, who pastors to the couple and their children through the Higher Ground Pentecostal Holiness Church of Ahoskie, Mr. Caulk suffered an injury in July and has since been out of work.

&uot;Hopefully, this will help them out,&uot; said Harris as he accepted a $500 check, on behalf of the family, from Hunt Club president Walter White. &uot;They’re scrambling to pay their bills and here it is, Christmas time. Maybe this donation will put a present under the tree for their children.&uot;

Rev. Harris stated that the children were ages 12-and-under.

Aiding White in making the check presentation were Club vice-president Duane Nowell, treasurer Donnie Harrell and secretary Allen Monette.

In addition to the money, the Club will also give the family a juicy turkey, just in time for the traditional holiday meal.

&uot;This is just our way of giving something back to the community,&uot; said Monette. &uot;Deer hunters often get a bad rap, but we’re not all bad. This club respects the sport of hunting, respects the land we hunt on and respects the landowners who have given us permission to hunt on their property.&uot;

This marks the second straight year that members of the St. Johns Hunt Club have reached out to a family in need. Last year, the family of Murfreesboro Police Officer Scott Jager was the recipient. Officer Jager, who died earlier this year, was battling cancer at the time.