Susan English

The Christmas Bureau closed its doors for the season at 2:30 yesterday afternoon after giving more than 31,000 people the fixings for a brighter Christmas. More than 750 families came to the bureau on the last day to get vouchers for a holiday dinner and toys for their children. Kathy Ostboe, 26, was the last recipient through the line. She arrived, out of breath after running from the parking lot, two minutes before the doors were closed for good. She had just gotten off work, at a motel in Spokane Valley, and remembered to dash home and get her husband's identification. The amount of the food voucher depends on the number of people in the household. With three children, her family got a $40 voucher.

Local businesses continue to celebrate the spirit of Christmas with generous donations to The Spokesman-Review Christmas Fund, among them Garco Construction, which provided a huge bump in the fund with a $29,580 donation. Garco's gift of $25,000 was combined with employee contributions and matching gifts. "Each year we match the contributions of our employees to this fund, as well as to any charity of their choice. This year our employees have contributed an additional $2,290. We are pleased to present our total contribution of $29,580 to help those individuals that need extra assistance this time of year," wrote Garco president James Welsh, and vice presidents Frank Etter, Clancy Welsh and Hollis Barnett. "We thank The Spokesman-Review and all the volunteers that allow 100 percent of our contributions to help our less fortunate neighbors," they wrote.

Generous donations totaling nearly $67,000 from 170 local companies and individuals have given the Christmas Fund a big boost. The fund grew to nearly $341,000, thanks in large part to Downtown Toyota, Lexus of Spokane and Downtown Honda, which gave $9,280; Cochrane and Company, which gave $7,500, and Metals Fabrication Co. and Premera Blue Cross, which each donated $5,000. In addition, Walker's Furniture gave $3,000. Vehrs Inc., Kimmel Athletic Supply and Rings & Things, as well as Dale Conboy and Eugene Fitzpatrick, each donated $2,500.

Volunteers spent Monday counting toys and looking over the numbers from last year at the Christmas Bureau. They already have given away nearly 14,000 toys, and they don't want to run out. Last year, nearly 16,000 children got Christmas toys from the charity at the Spokane County Fair and Expo Center. Bureau organizers say it's difficult to buy the exact number needed, but they don't want to overbuy and end up storing the extras.

The owners and employees of Travis Pattern & Foundry have demonstrated their generosity once again with a donation of $25,000 to the Christmas Fund. The Spokane company has been a consistent and generous donor to the fund over the years. President Travis Garske wrote: "The owners and employees of Travis Pattern & Foundry again wish to donate the funds that we would have spent on a Christmas party to your fund. We are very pleased to enclose a check in the amount of $25,000. We hope we can help make Christmas a little brighter for some Spokane families. We wish everyone a wonderful Christmas and a great new year in 2006."

In so many ways, a town's newspaper reflects the soul of a community. The community's conversation is fostered on the newspaper pages, and when there is a need, there are few better forums than a newspaper for letting that need be known to community members. The Spokesman-Review's Christmas Fund works because of this simple principle: Generous community members are willing to provide for a brighter Christmas for needy families. The newspaper is the conduit between donor and recipient. The Spokesman-Review partners with Catholic Charities and Volunteers of America at the Christmas Bureau, where Christmas fixings are given to more than 30,000 poor people each December, paid for with Christmas Fund donations.

Individual donors to the Christmas Fund frequently share the stories behind their gift, either memories of a childhood Christmas when strangers were kind, or of people whom they found inspirational. Donations from businesses seldom come with such stories. A donation of $3,000 from Justus Bag in Spokane is an exception. Dorothy, Doug and Darin Justus included a letter with their donation, detailing the story of the man who inspired them to be generous. This is their story:

More than 6,500 families have been given holiday gifts of food vouchers, toys, books and candy at the Christmas Bureau at the fairgrounds. The charity will be open five more days, and if the trends continue, more than 10,000 families will get the fixings of Christmas before the bureau closes Dec. 20. Thursday, volunteers gave vouchers totaling $20,694 to 734 families and toys to 1,080 children. Through the first seven days of operation, the bureau has distributed 6,503 vouchers worth $190,890, serving 10,111 adults and 11,002 children. Every child also received a toy and a book.

When it comes to the Christmas spirit, the Inland Northwest community has it. Just ask Rob McCann, executive director of Catholic Charities. He tells this story: One of the workshops at the annual Catholic Charities executive directors' meeting focuses on Christmas programs. Catholic Charities of Spokane partners with The Spokesman-Review and Volunteers of America to operate the Christmas Bureau at the fairgrounds.

Dozens of companies as well as individuals continue to make generous donations to the Christmas Fund, while at the same time thousands of needy families are getting Christmas fixings from the Christmas Bureau at the fairgrounds. A $4,000 donation from Testcomm LLC, of Spokane, brought the day's donations to $20,184.07. But the $144,485.45 raised so far is well short of the $485,000 goal, the amount that bureau organizers estimate is needed to pay for the toys and food vouchers given to poor people at the holiday charity.

As do a number of local companies, the owners of Landmark Restaurants matched employee donations and sent a generous $7,200 donation to the Christmas Fund. The $7,200 boosted the day's donations to $20,520. The community has donated $124,301.38 to the fund, which pays for Christmas fixings distributed at the Christmas Bureau at the Spokane County Fair and Expo Center.

Like most charitable efforts, The Spokesman-Review Christmas Fund depends heavily on donors who contribute year after year. Among the consistent groups of donors is the faculty and staff of University High School in Spokane Valley. The educators sent $920 and a letter: "In what has become an annual tradition, the faculty and staff of University High School have dedicated themselves to helping those less fortunate during the holiday season. We are proud to show our Titan spirit and would like to present this donation of $920 to share with the needy in the Spokane area.

The working poor flocked to the Christmas Bureau on Saturday to get toys and books for their children for Christmas, as well as food vouchers for a holiday meal. The Christmas charity is open on Saturdays this year so those who work during the week or live in outlying communities can still get the fixings of Christmas for their families. Christmas Bureau volunteers gave food vouchers totaling $24,250 to 791 families on Saturday. In addition, parents and grandparents selected toys for 1,489 children.

More than 2,500 needy families have been given Christmas fixings during the two days that the Christmas Bureau has been open. The charity provides a new toy and a book for every needy child and food vouchers to buy a holiday dinner for each household. The bureau has given out $72,770 worth of food vouchers and toys to more than 4,300 children.

Thursday, the need for donations to the Christmas Fund moves into high gear as the Christmas Bureau opens and begins distributing new toys and food vouchers for holiday dinners to thousands of the area's needy families. The Christmas Fund pays for Christmas fixings given out at the bureau at the Spokane County Fair & Expo Center. That's why a generous donation from Ken Roberts Management Inc. is so opportune. The local investment firm contributed $12,000. Donations totaling $26,024.50 boosted the Christmas Fund to $74,418.75.

Today is move-in day for the Christmas Bureau. While the volunteers are excited to get the charity effort going after months of planning, it will be a cold, long day. "I'm more excited than nervous," said Mike Reilly, volunteer bureau chairman. "It's good to get into high gear. There's a little bit of anxiety. So many things have to come together. One of those is the funding. But people rise to meet the challenges."

Most Christmas Fund donors are individuals or businesses, but the charity is also on the donation lists of a few clubs. The Suburbanites is one of the clubs that have given to the Christmas Fund often in the past few decades. None of its members can recall exactly how long the Suburbanites has been sending checks to the Christmas Fund, but one of the charter members of the group said it's been a long time.

The Christmas Bureau opens in just six days and volunteer bureau chairman Mike Reilly, and others, will use every one of them to complete the hundreds of small tasks that smooth operation of this big undertaking requires. "We've already run tests on the computers and I've taken another 250 wooden trucks to St. Charles School so the kids there can put on the wheels," said Reilly.