Holiday goal is to serve 9,000 needy families

The Christmas Bureau will distribute nearly a half-million dollars worth of toys and food vouchers to more than 9,000 needy families over 11 days starting Wednesday. Imagine inviting thousands of people to a Christmas party, knowing that about 10,000 will show up but not knowing when they’ll arrive. And it’s more complicated than that. There’s also no way of knowing how many teenagers, middle-schoolers or babies there will be in those families, but the toys have to be bought months ahead of time.

It’s a huge production and it takes a lot of people. Nearly 250 volunteers will make it all happen this year, many of whom have been volunteering at this annual charity for years. All that experience allows organizers to pull off this big Christmas gift from the community to the area’s needy.

Generous donations to The Spokesman-Review Christmas Fund are what makes this gift possible. Donations of $5,974.75 brought the Christmas Fund total to $41,066.05. Much more is needed if the fund is to reach the goal of $485,000.

While donations are needed, volunteers are not. The bureau has all of the volunteers it will need this year. Those interested in volunteering can contact Karen Orlando at Catholic Charities to get on the mailing list for next year.

“Volunteers need a lot of people skills at this charity,” said Orlando. “We have volunteers at the identification table that hear all kinds of stories about why people don’t have proper identification. They must be patient and understanding and talk to people a lot,” she said.

The volunteers at the computers need data entry skills.

“Retired teachers who are readers are really appreciated for the book tables,” said Orlando.

Volunteers also work as greeters and line organizers, people who help recipients get in the proper lines and help them navigate the system. Parents and children get identification bracelets with matching numbers for security purposes.

“You have to be a salesman to work in the toy rooms,” said Orlando. “You figure out the ages of the children and then often demonstrate the toys appropriate for that group.

About 80 volunteers work each shift at the bureau – 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., except on Wednesdays when the bureau is open until 6:30 p.m., which requires two shifts of volunteers. “Some people work both of those shifts,” Orlando said.

Students from three high schools – Rogers, Lewis & Clark and Gonzaga Prep – will work in groups of five in the child care area and will carry packages to the parking lot as needed for handicapped recipients.

All volunteers are required by law to undergo a criminal background check.

“There’s a permission slip in the volunteer application allowing us to perform the background checks,” Orlando said. “These are vulnerable people who come to the bureau and we solicit their names and addresses, the ages of their children and other information. We cannot risk having someone tempted to use that information.”

The goal of the bureau is to make the experience as pleasant, safe and respectful as is possible.

Following are the donors in today’s tally and their donations:

The Spokesman-Review Features Department donated the $2,199.75 it raised with its annual December freebie sale.

An anonymous donor, of Spokane, sent $1,000.

Beverly Olson of Spokane Valley, donated $500 in memory of her husband, Dick, and in honor of her children, Janet, Dennis and Denise.

The South Hill Bunco Babes donated $380.

John and Whitney Sestero of Spokane donated $250.

Bob and Dolores Griffith of Veradale gave $200, as did James and Carrie Clanton of Spokane.

William Bell and Bettina Lewis-Bell of Spokane donated $150.

Lloyd and Shirley Seehorn of Rockford, Wash., gave $50 in honor of Ruth Graham, “who made Christmas a real joy.” Dick and Ann Collins of Spokane donated $50, as did William Griffiths of Nine Mile Falls and Angelo and Myrna Roman, also of Spokane.

Roy and Clara Donder of Spokane sent $100, as did L. and M. Brocklehurst of Spokane Valley; Colleen Burchill, Mabel Morrison, Leanna Lass, Roger Palmberg, and two anonymous donors, all of Spokane.

Muriel Townsend of Spokane Valley donated $25, as did an anonymous donor, of Spokane.

Lloyd and Nancy Letsinger of Elk, Wash., gave $20.

Jackie Silvey, of Spokane, donated $15.

Bernice McClure of Spokane donated $10.

Susan English can be contacted at christmasfund@spokesman.com.