While many of us are fortunate to be more stuffed than a turkey this holiday season, too many families in the Baldwinsville area don’t have enough for a Thanksgiving feast or Christmas presents for their kids.
Each year, the Baldwinsville Volunteer Center fields a committee of 25 people for the Baldwinsville Christmas Bureau to make the holidays happier for those less fortunate. The Christmas Bureau is an income-based program that provides food, clothing and toys for families with children from birth to age 18 in the Baldwinsville Central School District.
Lauri Bernstein, coordinator of the Christmas Bureau program, said the bureau will serve about 180 families this winter. That’s around the average number of families that participate in the program each year.
“Baldwinsville is the only [municipality] in Onondaga County that has its own Christmas Bureau,” Bernstein said. She said people in the other towns and villages must go to the Salvation Army’s bureau in Syracuse.
The Christmas Bureau is looking for brand new clothing, books, toys, household goods and food to distribute to families. This year, the bureau provided 62 complete Thanksgiving dinners and will give each of the 180 families that registered a Christmas dinner plus a week’s worth of food.
“By the end … each family will have several boxes,” Bernstein said.
The bureau also accepts monetary donations, which are largely used to buy winter coats and boots for children in need.
“When families register, we ask them what things they need and what things they want Santa to bring,” Bernstein said.
This year, the most popular items on kids’ wish lists are toys from the movie “Frozen” and the video game “Minecraft.” Donors can call Bernstein at 727-5435 to ask about specific gifts for children.
“We mainly concentrate on the children, but we provide things for the parents too if we have donations,” she said.
Bernstein said the Christmas Bureau is a “very needed program” in the area and its goals could not be accomplished without the backing it receives from the community.
“The people of Baldwinsville are hugely, hugely supportive of this,” she added. “We have donations of one book up to thousands of dollars from groups and organizations.”
“The families are always so happy and so thrilled to get assistance at Christmas,” she said. “You really see how you can impact people’s lives.”
The B’ville Christmas Bureau will be accepting donations at the former Rite Aid store in the Tops plaza on Downer Street from Nov. 29 through Dec. 15. Drop-off times are as follows: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday; 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday; and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. The drop-off location is closed on Sundays.
For more information, visit bvillevolunteers.org or search for “Baldwinsville Christmas Bureau” on Facebook.
