LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Hazel Maxey picked out toys at the annual Santa’s Holiday Gift Drive.

“With toys, we can bring a little bit more cheer to a family, especially the children,” Maxey said

The toys might seem like a small gesture, but they’re actually a big deal for the children Maxey’s organization serves.

“We’re able to reach more children, help children and bring more cheer to the children that we serve so we are very grateful,” she said.

Maxey is the executive director of the Children’s Advocacy Center of Southeast Arkansas in Pine Bluff. For the past three decades, the center has served thousands of children who are victims of sexual and physical abuse.

Hazel Maxey, executive director children’s advocacy center of southeast Arkansas:

“We do forensic interviews, sexual assault exams, therapy and advocacy services so that we can help children in their healing process,” Maxey explained.

In 2024, they saw at least 700 children. Maxey believes the numbers will even higher by the end of this year.

“Children should have the right to be heard and believed and supported because children shouldn’t be hurt because of child maltreatment,” she said.

The team’s ultimate goal is to help children heal so they don’t carry their trauma into adulthood. That is why Rainwater Holt & Sexton has named the Children’s Advocacy Center of Southeast Arkansas as this month’s Difference Maker.

Separate vehicle crashes in South Arkansas in the days before Christmas claimed the lives of six people.

Information was compiled from preliminary fatal crash summaries posted by Arkansas State Police.

On Saturday, Dec. 20, a Texarkana pedestrian was struck and killed on Arkansas Highway 82. A report says 47-year-old Christopher Lamin was walking in the roadway near its intersection with Vanderbilt Road when an eastbound 2010 Toyota struck and killed him. Weather and road conditions were clear when the collision occurred at 8 p.m.

On Sunday, Dec. 21, a Nashville woman died in a crash at the Nevada County town of Emmet. Marshauntie T. Sanders, 30, was traveling on US Highway 67 when the 2015 Ford Edge she was driving left the roadway and struck an embankment. The weather and roads were clear when the crash happened at 1:16 a.m.

A second crash early Sunday morning on US Highway 79 left a Magnolia man dead and a Waldo woman injured. Therran R. Moreno, 19, was driving a 2013 Chevy Tahoe north when the vehicle left the roadway and struck an embankment, overturning the vehicle and ejecting Moreno. His passenger, Summer Murphy, also 19, was transported to Magnolia Regional Center for treatment to unlisted injuries. The weather was clear and the roads were dry at the time of the crash, at 3:07 a.m.

A third car accident Sunday morning killed two Star City residents in the Desha County city of Dumas. James Dale Wilcox Jr., 63, was driving a 2023 Chevy Trailblazer north on US Highway 165 when he veered left of center, drove off the highway and collided with an embankment at Dan Gill Drive. Both Wilcox and his wife, Brenda, 59, were killed in the crash. Roads and weather conditions were clear at the time of the crash, 9:48 a.m.

A one-vehicle wreck on Arkansas Highway 51 in Hot Spring County left one person dead Monday, Dec. 22. Matthew Joseph Buffington, 40, of Malvern, was driving a 2021 Jeep Compass when he drove up an embankment, sending the vehicle airborne and striking two trees. Weather and road conditions were clear and dry at the time of the crash, 12:20 a.m.

Editor’s Note: Preliminary Arkansas State Police fatality reports sometimes contain information that turns out to be inaccurate. Typical errors include spelling errors in names, or incorrect ages; outdated hometown information; vehicle direction of travel; and incident times. The ASP sometimes corrects these errors in updated reports. ASP reports omit names of passengers or drivers who are not injured, even in instances when uninjured drivers may appear to be at fault. The reports also omit names of juveniles who were injured or killed, although we report those names when obtained through other sources.

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