Miracles flow both ways at the Christmas Bureau

Months before holiday decorations adorn shopping malls, Christmas Bureau volunteers were at work.

They’ve lined up a wide assortment of toys and books for more than 9,000 families in need and arranged for the $15-$30 vouchers that recipients can use to buy ingredients for a holiday meal.

There are logistics to work out on setup and tear-down, toy delivery, entertainment, security and more.

Now it’s the turn of generous donors, many of whom have been giving for years. Between today and Christmas, The Spokesman-Review will collect donations to the Christmas Fund. That money, in turn, will go to pay for the Christmas Bureau, a collaboration of Catholic Charities Spokane and Volunteers of America.

It’s been said that miracles flow both ways in this longtime Inland Northwest tradition.

This year, the Christmas Bureau opens its doors Dec. 10-19, excluding Dec. 13, at the Spokane County Fair and Expo Center. Families can select one toy for each of their children and one book for each child through age 14.

“I’ve already received many calls from people asking about the Christmas Bureau,” said Judy Lee, the event’s coordinator at Catholic Charities. “They’re asking what the dates are, and what are the requirements, so I know people are already thinking about needing the assistance.”

The region’s widespread Nov. 17 windstorm damage might increase the need this year, Lee said. More than 180,000 utility customers lost power. Many experienced an outage for days.

“The windstorm definitely could be a factor,” she said. “People could be worse off having to put money toward other things and not have money to buy toys, maybe because they have to pay for a repair, or they lost whatever they had in their refrigerator because of a power outage.”

Founded in 1945, the Christmas Bureau today draws together 400-plus volunteers and thousands of Spokane-area donors to make the season a little brighter for just over 30,000 recipients.

The Christmas Bureau wouldn’t be possible without the support of generous contributions, with any amount appreciated. Between now and Christmas, the charity needs to raise $525,000.

Donations and some of the accompanying notes are reported in daily stories after they’ve been processed.

The stats on the Christmas Bureau’s reach are staggering. Last year, more than 1,400 donors generously contributed $531,164. Nearly 16,000 children received books and toys in 2014, and 9,111 households received grocery store gift certificates for a holiday meal.

Overall, a total of 30,208 people in need were served in 2014.

With the 2015 season here, Lee said volunteers are geared up and eager to meet the needs of all recipients who walk through the doors at the fairgrounds. Many will stand in line for hours.

“I have amazing volunteers who do everything they can to pull it all together,” Lee said, adding that toy buyers carefully researched toy purchases completed earlier this year to ensure a good selection for a variety of ages.

Volunteer toy buyers Reesie Smith and Cheryl Taam sound as excited as kids on Christmas morning as they describe the roughly 16,000 new toys purchased at bargain rates.

“I feel like we have a very nice and varied selection for all the age groups,” Smith said. “We always try to have the same basic toys that everyone wants every year, but we also have some new and different items we haven’t had before.”

This year’s assortment of gifts includes Barbies, remote control cars, sporting goods, family board games, building sets, and art and activity sets for older kids. The toys are all new and parents and caregivers can select just the right thing for each child in the household.

Today this annual tradition begins anew.