The 2020 season for Christmas Friends Inc., the local charity that provides gifts for needy children and elderly or disabled adults in Middlesex County, is under way.
The 2020 season for Christmas Friends Inc., the local charity that provides gifts for needy children and elderly or disabled adults in Middlesex County, is under way.The Middlesex Department of Social Services has already been assisting clients in completing their “wish lists” and some volunteer shoppers are already working to fulfill those wishes. Soon, volunteer wrappers and delivery crews will be gathering to complete the 35th year of Christmas Friends magic by Dec. 19.
Monetary donations from community friends are now needed to assure that the work can continue. The program expects to serve approximately 300 clients this year and the fundraising goal is $30,000.
Christmas & COVID-19
The organizers of Christmas Friends — the Southside Sentinel and the Middlesex Department of Social Services — are truly grateful for all the volunteers who will be dealing with pandemic risks and protocols this season, and urge everyone to be cautious and stay safe. Several new guidelines have been adopted:
All volunteers are asked to wear a mask when inside buildings and even outside where 6 ft. of separation between individuals is not possible.
Shoppers are encouraged to shop early or late to avoid crowded stores, use smaller stores if possible, and consider online shopping if there is no local alternative and timely delivery can be confirmed.
Wrapping sessions will be expanded to be sure social distancing space is available for a maximum of five wrappers. Instead of only weekend sessions as in the past, volunteers will be able to wrap on most weekdays at the Sentinel office. A schedule will be announced later this week; get your “fabulous five” together and plan on several morning or afternoon sessions of wrapping fun! There will be no wrapping on Wednesdays.
Many shoppers also wrap the gifts they purchase. That is an ideal situation in this pandemic world, and if more shoppers are able to enlist family members to help, wrapping paper is available at the Sentinel.
Delivery of the gifts will be organized so volunteers will rarely need to enter homes of the recipients. The two-person delivery crews are often family members, and more families are encouraged to participate this year.
A disposable mask and a personal container of hand sanitizer are being issued to each volunteer. The wrapping area at the Sentinel office will be sanitized before and after each wrapping session. Wrappers are encouraged to bring their own scissors to each session.
Gift boxes are always needed and may be left any time at the back door of the Sentinel office.
Want to help?
Shopping director Bettie Lee Gaskins said 92 volunteer shoppers have already signed up. Last year more than 100 were needed so if you would like to volunteer, please call Sentinel office manager Geanie Longest at 804-758-2328, ext. 101, or email her at glongest@ssentinel.com.
You can also contact Longest if you have a large van capable of holding approximately 25 “contractor” size bags of gifts and are willing to be its driver for one of 12 delivery routes on Saturday, Dec. 19.
The ideal van is a Chrysler or Dodge with stowaway rear seats, or similar size vans with seats that can be completely removed. “Full size” SUVs (such as a Chevy Suburban) have also been used successfully. Most regular size SUVs do not have enough space for all the bags.
Full size pick-up trucks with camper shells are also suitable.
Total volunteer effort
All funds donated to Christmas Friends go directly to help needy children and disabled or low-income elderly of Middlesex. All workers are volunteers and there are no administrative fees. Supplies such as boxes, wrapping paper and delivery bags are all donated. Volunteers supply storage space, vans and fuel to assist with the big delivery job.
