'Tis the season for giving

CELINA - Be nice, kids - Santa Claus is coming to Mercer County.

The 18th annual Mercer County Angel Tree program is a joint venture between Our Home Family Resource Center, churches, organizations, businesses and local volunteers that offers financially-limited parents a chance to pick up a few gifts for their children for free.

The program is in full swing. Applications from Mercer County families in need will be open until 4:30 p.m. Nov. 16. Applications can be submitted to www.ourhomefrc.com/special-programs.

In 2005, several Mercer County community organizations, including Our Home, combined efforts with local churches, businesses and agencies to create a North Pole-like experience for Mercer County parents.

Prior to that, the entities were doing similar programs on their own. However, officials decided to merge for more comprehensive and coordinated services during the holiday season.

Last year, the program served 336 Mercer County families and 776 children.

Our Home director Kevin Draiss said the program averages about 750-800 Mercer County children ranging in age from newborn to 12 years old, with the goal of providing each kid two toys and one outfit. He said this equates to about 2,250-2,400 items donated per year.

"For each kid, we will generate three tags," Draiss said. "Two tags for toys and one tag for clothes. We will distribute the tags to churches, businesses, groups, anybody who wants a group of tags can request those from us."

After a group requests tags, the tags are hung on doors or a Christmas tree for people from the organization to take. The volunteers subsequently purchase the toy or outfit and drop the gift off where they got the tag.

During the first week of December volunteers help fill up the Celina First Church of God gym, fellowship hall and four classrooms with an amount of gifts only Santa and his elves could possibly generate.

"We make it so that the parent actually gets to go and pick the item that their kid is going to receive," Draiss said. "I always tell my staff, 'If we do this right, we never get to see the kid smile. We get to see the parents smile.'"

Parents check in on shopping day and are assigned a volunteer personal shopper to guide them through the mountains of gifts.

"It's a beautiful, wonderful program," said Edna Backs, direct services and referrals program coordinator. "They know their personalities, what they do like and what they don't like. Some of them like Spiderman, some of them don't, that kind of thing … It's so fun to watch their faces. They're like, 'I can have that? I can have that?'"

Draiss said the center requires three trailers to transport all the gifts. He added there is a wrapping station where parents can wrap gifts themselves or have a volunteer do it. All told, the organization goes through one mile of wrapping paper.

"We put on Christmas music, we decorate, because we want it to be as dignifying as possible," he said. "It's not easy for everyone to ask for help and come out and experience it."

In addition to gifts, parents also receive a simple Christmas meal of instant potatoes, noodles and canned meat.

Businesses can request tags at www.ourhomefrc.com/angeltreetags. Gifts are due by Dec. 1. Parents shop at Celina First Church of God on Dec. 8, and must have an ID and confirmation email on hand to shop.

For any questions or if an applicant encounters issues while submitting online, contact Our Home Family Resource Center at 419-586-4663 ext. 2. Staff is available to assist from 9 a.m.-noon and 1-4 p.m. Monday-Thursday.