Hundreds of children were able to receive Christmas presents and have a meal with their parents incarcerated in Rutherford County.
The 7th annual Operation Bless A Child took place Saturday at New Vision Baptist Church in Murfreesboro.
The holiday tradition was put on by the church's prison ministry. It allowed children to spend time with their parents and for parents to give their child a present for Christmas.
During the day, Pastor John Spurgeon led a sermon. Part of his Christmas sermon's message was about love, peace, and hope.
"Christmas is all about hope, and what the message that we want to give out to the next generation of the kids is, you don't need to follow in the footsteps of your father, of your mother, of your grandfather, of your granddad. There is a better choice you can make. As a church, we want to relay the message to them and say through Christ, 'You can make a better choice,'" Spurgeon said.
After the service, families ate together and kids received gifts.
Tennessee Representative Beth Harwell also attended and shared a Christmas message to the families and then served meals.
"The outreach that they are conducting for men and women that are in prison can make all the difference, especially for keeping families together this time of year. I enjoyed seeing all these little children here because my three children are now grown, so the Christmas time takes on a new meaning when you have three grown children, but we still celebrate as a family," Harwell said.
The first year this event happened, 15 kids received gifts. For this year's event, nearly 800 kids received a gift.
