Volunteers with Lacombe's Santa's Anonymous campaign are putting out the call that more donations are needed to brighten the season for local children and youth.
Santa’s Anonymous is a program put together in partnership with the Lacombe Kinsmen Club and Lacombe and District Family and Community Support Services (FCSS). Families who are interested in receiving a gift this year can contact FCSS to fill out an application form.
The program aims to make sure every child in the community has a gift to open on Christmas morning.
Craig Darrell, Kinsmen Club treasurer and a spokesperson for the project, said the program relies heavily on community donations, and to that end, donation bins set up around the city in about 50 locations.
These run the gamut from all of the local banks to lots of businesses including Home Hardware, LA Carpet and Tile, all of the drug stores, and Starbucks to name just a few.
"We've been running Santa's Anonymous for a number of years now, and demand this year is quite a bit higher than it's been in previous years," he said.
"And we are also finding our donations are down a bit as well. There aren't as many toys in the bins throughout the community as there typically is for this time of year."
Darrell said some of what is in particularly high demand this year includes things like bracelet-making kits, science kits, and National Geographic kits for example.
For older kids, items such as ear pods or headsets are always a popular choice, too.
"Board games are huge all of the time. We are also basically collecting toys right up until Christmas, and we also accept cash donations at either the Lacombe FCSS office, LA Carpet and Tile, or Empire Auto Sales."
Santa's Anonymous, which is aimed at those 16 and under, is open to anyone from Lacombe, Lacombe County, Alix, Clive, Tees, Mirror and Bentley.
As mentioned, the program runs in collaboration with Lacombe FCSS.
"FCSS does all of the vetting for us, and then they hand over the applications to us and we fill them," said Darrell, adding the program has been running in the community for more than 30 years.
Application forms for Santa's Anonymous are available on the Lacombe and District FCSS website at www.lacombefcss.net/current-programs. The deadline to apply is Dec. 15.
To keep up-to-date with the campaign, folks can also find the Lacombe Kinsmen on Facebook.
"They can also drop by LA Carpet and Tile or Empire Auto Sales, and we can help out as well," said Darrell.
"It's a feel good event," he added. "You don't want to have any kid at Christmas waking up and not seeing a present under the tree."
