Six days – and counting – to bureau’s opening

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.

While bureau organizers are busy with last-minute details, donors are stepping up a little slowly to the challenge of funding this charity. The Christmas Fund pays for the 16,000 toys and $285,000 worth of food vouchers distributed at the Christmas Bureau.

The Christmas Fund has a long way to go to reach the $485,000 goal, the amount that organizers estimate will be needed to pay the bills. Donations of $1,572 have bumped the fund to $34,058.25 and contributions of all amounts are welcome.

“You don’t have to be a big donor. It’s really more about being part of the community that cares about its most needy members,” said Reilly. “This effort is not about The Spokesman-Review or the charities that run the bureau. They just facilitate the effort. This is about community helping community. The need is there and the members who can respond do so.”

Reilly spent one day this week at the Spokane County Fair & Expo Center going over setup details with officials there. Delivery on Tuesday of toys that will be distributed through the bureau will require room for five semi-trucks. They will be backed into the building where the bureau is being set up and unloaded by volunteers and fairgrounds workers with forklifts.

Reilly is also in charge of the signs that direct recipients from the parking lot to the bureau. This year he’s working on posting some signs in Russian and Spanish. “Our translators can help us with those,” he said.

Reilly’s not alone in this last-minute rush. Christmas Bureau volunteers bought another commercial-size coffee maker this week to brew enough for recipients, who for the first time will be offered coffee while they’re waiting in line. Cravens Coffee Co. donated enough java for recipients and volunteers.

Karen Orlando, the bureau organizer from Catholic Charities, has a long to-do list that ranges from ordering lunches for the 300 volunteers during orientation on Wednesday to buying nearly 4,000 batteries for the toys that need them.

Following are the donors and their donations:

Charles Lobdell, of Spokane, donated $200 in memory of his wife, Marie. “It was her belief that every child should have a Christmas present. I agree. Thank you for continuing this Christmas Fund. I have donated for several years and look forward to it each year,” he wrote.

Joseph and Joan Gagliardi, of Spokane, also gave $200.

An anonymous donor, of Deer Park, sent $200 in memory of Milt and Fay Echelbarger.

The Richard Byrd family, of Spokane, sent $150 and a note: “May the enclosed help some needy individuals have a truly happy and blessed Christmas.”

Ann and Aaron Coleman, of Indianapolis, donated $100 and included a note: “Merry Christmas to all.”

Rettie Sharpe, of Spokane, also gave $100, as did Robert and Deborah Davis, Roberta and Norman Green, and an anonymous donor, all of Spokane.

Joseph Toombs, of Veradale, sent $75.

Carol Wilson, of Greenacres, donated $50 in memory of her husband, Archie, “who always wanted to donate to this fund.”

Don and Carolyn Van Leuven, of Spokane, also donated $50.

Beatrice and Gerald Scheele, of Spokane, donated $25, as did Betty Thompson, and an anonymous donor, also of Spokane.

An anonymous donor brought $22.

Two anonymous donors, both of Spokane, each donated $20.

Nancy Wood, of Spokane, gave $10.