Mary Daly, Norton, carries a bag of gifts into the old Brennan Middle School on County Street Saturday for the Christmas Is for Kids drive. Saturday was the last day for the gift drive. (Staff photo by Martin Gavin)

Gift drive extending deadline

ATTLEBORO - Christmas Is For Kids has extended its 26th annual gift drive until Wednesday, December 17^th to make sure all of the nearly 850 children in the drive are matched with presents.

As of Saturday, about 100 children had not been matched with donors, organizer Kelly Fox said.

The donor center at the old Brennan Middle School at 135 County St. will be open from 5 to 8 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, said Fox, head of the Attleboro Area Council for Children, the agency in charge of the drive.

New applications are not being accepted, Fox said.

Fox said volunteers are working to match kids with general presents, such as gift cards and stuffed animals, that donors have dropped off. She added that the charity has received numerous cash donations, which volunteers will use to shop for presents over the next few days.

"All the kids will get gifts," Fox said.

On Saturday, the donor center was full of volunteers, bags of gifts for children and mounds of stuffed animals as the volunteers worked to finish collecting and organizing gifts before Christmas.

"People have been very generous, and all the children will be well taken care of," Fox said.

Those who want to bring donations should bring gift cards to stores such as DSW, Bob's, Dick's Sporting Goods, Best Buy and Target, as well as movie passes and Visa gift cards. "That's really helpful," she said.

The organization is helping over 850 children and 216 families.

"I've been able to sit with some parents, and they cry. The dads cry, the mom's cry. We tell them, 'Don't worry, we're going to take care of these kids,'" Fox said. "There's a lot of tears," she said.

The children are selected in two ways. Local organizations suggest children in need of Christmas gifts. And parents who qualify for help and take courses can suggest their own children to the organization.

Children are matched up with a donor who will buy things for the kids for Christmas. "We don't make any guarantees; we'll just do our best," Fox said.

Some families couldn't afford to buy Christmas presents this year. "A lot of things that we saw were layoffs and medical reasons," Fox said. "For us, you kind of look at it and think, 'any one in here, it could happen to any of us,' " she said. "We have had over 100 volunteers walk through the door," Fox said. "There are a lot of families that are volunteering, which is amazing to watch," Fox said.

For example, Dillon Achin, 14, started volunteering to fulfill his community service hours for school. "When I started doing it, I kind of liked it," he said.

"It's incredibly satisfying," Jill Tobin from North Attleboro said. She's volunteered for several years, and was the volunteer coordinator this year.

She has two kids and says she understands that many people have cycles of financial issues. "Everybody has times of need it's really nice to help people in your community," Tobin said.

Tobin says working with a local organization can make a noticeable difference. "You really feel like your time is well spent," she said. "I personally recognize some of these children's names, and it makes it very personal," she said.

Tobin said she thinks people think more about donating when they have to pinch pennies themselves. "There's been more people giving and there's been more need," she said. "My children would come when they were younger. I know that it helped them to be more caring and cognizant people," she said.

Even while the 26th drive is heading to its final days, Fox already is looking ahead.

"Every year I hope it's the last year, and that all the children will have what they need," Fox said. But, I think it's safe to say there will be a 27th year."