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“It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

-Jesus, Acts 20:35



After asking his mother for a four-wheeler for Christmas and being told that it was beyond his family’s means, six-year-old Ty Kobielnik decided that something within his family’s means was to give to others.

His mother, Rachel Ribka, said that after talking with her son about those that are less fortunate that Ty came up with the idea to give to the homeless on his own.

“We can’t afford to buy four wheeler,” Ribka said. “He had this disappointed look on his face. I let him know that what he was asking for was a little extravagant. I just explained that a lot of kids don’t really get big items like that for Christmas and some don’t have much at all. Then he told me that people live under bridges and don’t have anything. After a while he said that what we could spend on gifts instead of having a big Christmas we could give to others and just have a small one here at home.”

And that is what Ty is planning to do. Thanks to Odenville Elementary School’s fall can drive as well as other local businesses; Ty will be able to give goods to women at Jesse’s Place, a women’s shelter that is part of the Jimmy Hale Mission in Birmingham.

But Ty, a vivacious young man, wants to give as much as possible. So his family contacted local businesses like the Odenville Piggly Wiggly and Colonial Bank who pitched in by providing paper products and starting a canned food drive.

Ty’s parents are going to Jesse’s Place at four o’clock Christmas Day to deliver all they have collected through the generous donations of the people in the Odenville area.

“We’re going to go over there and personally pass out blankets and socks,” Ty’s mother said. “My father is a Gideon, so they’ll be receiving Gideon Bibles, too. I can’t afford to buy it all myself and we are just appreciative for anyone who can help out.”

If you would like to donate goods for Jesse’s Place residents such as canned goods, paper towels, toilet paper, laundry products cold medicine blankets or socks, contact Rachel Ribka at 629-7848 or stop by the Colonial Bank in Odenville.