Just as the Christmas season rolls around, starts the Christmas caring attitude. The Education Foundation, a non-profit organization made up of local business owners, civic leaders, parents, and community members, will be hosting the 4th Annual Beary Merry Christmas Market on Dec. 3 at Little Cypress Elementary.

The Beary Merry Christmas Market is a gathering of vendors and volunteers to provide a wide variety of merchandise, nick-nacks, and goodies that can be auctioned off in a silent auction.

“The goal of the market is to raise funds for the LCM Education Foundation Grants-to-Educators program,”  LCM Community Relations Coordinator Sherry Combs said. “We have sold out every booth and have several sponsors this year, so are expecting to gross $14,000 or more.”

The Market has many activities including a sweet shop in charge of selling sweet goods, a silent auction, T-shirt sales, and even a visit with the Big Man himself, Santa Claus.

“There is a breakfast with Santa that runs from 9-10 a.m. and the Market is from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.,”  Combs said.

Not only do investors, vendors, and sponsors participate, but volunteers do as well. The Foundation is very open to volunteers, for there are a lot of things to be done.

“Some volunteers sell cold drinks, popcorn, and pizza,” Combs said. “Others are Santa’s helpers and help Mr. Claus get from one place to another or help get the children in his lap to have their photos made. Others run the hospitality room where vendors can get water and refreshments.”

The past three years have been very successful, with a lot of work being put in by volunteers.

“The event was the brain child of Rhonda Braud, who was a Foundation board member and who served for a while as the Foundation’s coordinator,” Combs said. “She heard of another Foundation in a different part of the states who had a Christmas market such as ours and built on that idea.”

The board encourages students to be aware of the people that care so much to help provide opportunities to the schools.

“We would like the students to be aware that there are people in the community besides their parents and teachers, who care enough about them to spend many, many hours working to provide opportunities for them that would not be possible without the funds raised by this group,” Combs said.