Published: November 29, 2009 05:36 pm      

Volunteers, donations being sought for Christmas for the Needy

By TESA CULLI

tesa.culli@register-news.com

MT. VERNON — Christmas for the Needy will be serving a record number of people this year, and a record number of volunteers and donations will be needed as well.

“The registration went well, and we signed up 1,181 people,” organizer Randy Sells said. “We normally deliver around 600, and the most we’ve delivered are 800 boxes, so this will be a challenge.”

Christmas for the Needy is sponsored by the Jefferson County Ministerial Association, and depends on donations of canned goods as well as monetary donations to purchase perishable items such as chicken, milk, eggs and butter. Volunteers from the community pack the food boxes and deliver them.

“We have 14 schools this year helping with canned goods,” Sells said. “Last year, we received the most from one of the smallest schools, Farrington Grade School, at 2,000 cans.”

Young people also make up a large portion of those volunteers who help fill and sort items for the food boxes, and Sells said there will be about 70 students at the Rolland Lewis Community Building at 6:30 a.m. on Dec. 18 working for an hour to get the boxes ready for delivery.

“We normally have about 150 people come to help box and deliver,” Sells said. “But this year we will need a lot more than that to get the boxes delivered to 1,181 people.”

Deliveries will be made from 8:30 a.m. to noon on Dec. 18, and anyone who would like to volunteer are asked to show up at the Rolland Lewis Community Building and they will be given a route.

Donations are the largest concern at this time, Sells said. Last year, it took $14,000 to cover the costs of perishable food items for the 600 boxes that were delivered. To help with the effort, local churches are being asked to participate in Christmas for the Needy Sundays on Dec. 6 and Dec. 13, when church-goers will be asked to donate $3 toward the program.

Anyone who would like to make a non-perishable food donation may drop it off at Central Christian Church between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Dec. 2 through Dec. 15. Monetary donations may be made by mail to P.O. Box 575, Mt. Vernon, IL 62864.