Your Help is Needed
CHRISTMAS BUREAU 2006
Christmas Bureau is a collaborative program that involves over twenty public and private community partners who, in partnership with The Salvation Army and the United Way of CNY, coordinate community efforts in collecting food, toys and books for a mass distribution to low income families at Christmas. Distribution Day was held at the Oncenter on Thursday, December 21st. On "D-Day" 2,225 families were served with select toys, books and stocking stuffers for their children and a Holiday Food Basket for all.
One special partner was the Onondaga Ski Club. OSC Members volunteered over 68 hours of their time as computer registrars or greeters for the Christmas Bureau registration process or helped as personal shoppers on "D-Day". The volunteers include:
| Charlotte Buskey |
| Dianne Emmick |
| Lou Wassel |
| Mary Ann Janson |
| Marian LaPierre |
| Arley Morey |
| Irene Morey |
| Marvin Patnode |
| Sandy Sherwani |
| Mary Whelan |
Computers are important for collecting all the information needed for Christmas Bureau registration and the donations of books, toys and food are needed. It is the volunteer registrars and the distribution day workers that give "heart" to the process. We could not have accomplished the task of distributing the goods without the kind hands of caring and committed volunteers.
A big THANKS goes out to all of the OSC Members who generously gave of their time and energies to help others during the busy holiday season. Their efforts helped over 2,200 families in our community have a very happy holiday. May God bless them with peace, joy and happiness in the New Year.
NEED KNOWS NO SEASON
Volunteers are essential to the day-to-day operations of The Salvation Army programs and services not only at Christmas but all year long! . Interested in finding out more about volunteer opportunities? Please contact Lynn Hy, Volunteer Coordinator by phone at 479-1321 or by e-mail: lynn.hy@use.salvationarmy.org or Marilyn Woyciesjes, Director of Adult Services and OSC Member by phone at 479-1331 or by e-mail: m.woyciesjes@use.salvationarmy.org
Holiday Opportunities - United Way
While the holidays can be a hectic time for many, finding a few spare hours to take on a volunteer task can be a very rewarding experience. United Way of Central New York’s Volunteer Resource Division has opportunities for individuals and groups of all ages. Listed below are only a few of the volunteer opportunities that are available.
-
Ring bells for donations. Every year, The Salvation Army needs hundreds of volunteers to ring the bell to bring attention to the red kettle drive, which helps The Salvation Army do its work all year. Groups will find this fun and very exciting. You can dress up in holiday attire, bring the family, and carol or sing.
- Help families have a brighter holiday. Volunteers are needed in mid-November and early December to register families to receive food, books and toys for their families. If you have patience and love working with people, or if you can speak another language or have computer skills, this position is for you.
- Deliver meals to the homebound. During the holiday season, Meals On Wheels needs you to deliver meals to the homebound. Only a few hours of your time are needed. Rescue Mission also delivers meals for Thanksgiving and Christmas and volunteer opportunities are available there as well.
- Wrap gifts for charity. Don’t worry, it’s not that hard! Many non-profit agencies in the area gift-wrap at malls and retail stores to raise money for their programs. Hundreds of hours need to be filled from Thanksgiving through Christmas Eve.
- Donate toward holiday cheer. New books and toys, party favors, stocking stuffers, food baskets and food certificates are needed at over 45 agencies to spread holiday cheer.
In addition, party-helpers, meal-planners, map-readers and phone-answerers are needed at many agencies throughout Central New York. For more information about these or other volunteer opportunities, contact Lucretia Hudzinski at 315-428-2246.
|
