Donations needed for programs
Christmas gift ideas are quickly filling store shelves, and ResourceCare employees are hoping that donations will allow them to share holiday presents with all of the local children, teens, and seniors that request their assistance this yuletide season.
Toys for Tots
Marine SSgt. Doug Beaty coordinates the local Toys for Tots campaign, which provides gifts for Albany children ages zero to 11, working through the Resource Center.
A fundraiser luncheon for this program is planned for Sunday, Nov. 18, at the Youth Center, with help from members of Albany High School’s National Honor Society, and toy and cash donation boxes have also been placed at various locations in town.
Those in need of assistance from the program should turn in a completed application to Resource Care before the end of November, according to RC program director Mindy Ary.
“The deadline to register for Toys for Tots is Friday, Nov. 30,” said Ary. “Applications can be picked up from Resource Care.”
The toys will be available for parents to pick up on Wednesday, Dec. 12.
Donation Sites
Donation boxes will once again be set up at various locations in town.
Collection boxes for new, unwrapped toy donations are placed at Albany High, Dollar General, and ResourceCare. Money collection containers are placed at Prairie Star, Vintage Vanilla, Albany Minit Mart, and Fleur De Lee Flower Shop.
Other businesses that want to join in the campaign are invited to call Beaty at 254-212-9684 and he will bring them a donation box.
The mission of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program is to collect new, unwrapped toys during November and December each year, and distribute those toys as Christmas gifts to less fortunate children in the community in which the campaign is conducted.
Christmas For Teens
ResourceCare also accepts donations for Christmas for Teens, which provides gifts for approximately 35 to 40 junior high and high school students in Shackelford County each year.
The teens can be enrolled in the program by either their parents or by a school counselor. The deadline for Christmas for Teens applications is Nov. 30, the same as the deadline for Toys for Tots, according to Ary.
Those wishing to make contributions to the gift program can send a check with the memo notation: “Teen Gifts” to Resource Care Center at PO Box 2435, Albany TX 76430.
Adopt A Senior
There are 37 seniors currently signed up for the Vittles By Vehicle program, and ResourceCare is asking that members of the community adopt all of them this holiday season.
“We hope to have all of our seniors adopted by Dec. 7,” said Ary. “Then we need for the gifts for the seniors to be turned in to us by Dec. 19, so we can deliver wrapped gifts with the Vittles by Vehicle meals on Dec. 21.”
To adopt a senior, call RC programs assistant Ragan Riley at 325-762-2447 ext. 101.
Christmas Baskets
Christmas Basket applications will be available at ResourceCare and at many local churches.
The annual food drive is sponsored by the Albany Ministerial Alliance, and strives to provide a box filled with the ingredients needed for a traditional holiday meal to families in need of assistance.
Donations for the holiday meals can be made at the Community Thanksgiving service on Sunday, Nov. 18, handed to any of the ministers in the Alliance, or mailed to the Ministerial Alliance at PO Box 3084, Albany, Texas 76430.
