Santa Claus will need more helpers than ever before in Greenwood.
With more than 500 families in the Adopt-a-Family program, Capts. Aaron and Emily Gordon, corps officers for the Salvation Army, said the annual program has a record number of people to help this holiday season.
“The economy has made it a rough year for many families, and we’ve seen it firsthand in the numbers of people coming to us for help,” said Emily Gordon. “It’s especially hard during the holiday season, with people losing their jobs, their homes and not knowing how they will provide for their families.”
Adopt-A-Family, which is sponsored by the Salvation Army in cooperation with The Greenwood Commonwealth, helps low-income families through donations from the community.
Qualifying local families are listed anonymously in the Commonwealth twice a week, starting today, until they are adopted.
“There are a lot more couples and single men that have signed up this year,” Emily Gordon said. “The good thing about this small community is that people know and care about each other, and I think the families get adopted because people care.”
Donations provide more than just basic needs. They will bring holiday cheer to children and families throughout the Greenwood area who could have remained overlooked.
“We budget half the money for food and half for toys,” Emily Gordon said. “It is an amazing sight to see the families get a chance to pick out something that their children would really like.”
But it takes active community members to make the program successful.
To help with the Adopt-A-Family program, individuals and organizations may contact the Salvation Army and donate $60 to “adopt” the family of their choice.
“We didn’t raise the price this year because with the economy the way it is, we figured people wouldn’t be able to adopt if it was any higher,” Aaron Gordon said.
The local Salvation Army also hosts two other campaigns to provide assistance to local families during the holiday season — bell-ringing and the Angel Tree.
Bell ringing stations have been set up across the Greenwood area.
“We have more families this year and less volunteers,” Aaron Gordon said. “We have a lot of great volunteers, but at this time last year I had almost every time slot filled for bell ringing, and this year I only have one or two weekends filled.”
Capt. Gordon said bell ringing is a great way for church Sunday schools, youth groups, businesses, women’s groups or civic groups to get involved.
“We have seen guitar players and singers who have made a tremendous amount of money,” Aaron Gordon said. “We’ve even seen a flute player.”
The Greenwood kettles will be located at both Wal-Mart entrances, Greenwood Market Place, Big Star and JCPenney every Monday through Saturday until Christmas.
“We couldn’t do this without our volunteers,” Aaron Gordon said. “A group could fill a whole day by having a couple of people do two-hour shifts.”
The funds raised through the bell-ringing will help pay for food vouchers and toys, and the rest will go toward other Salvation Army expenses throughout the year.
People also can help through the Angel Tree program, which offers an opportunity to pick out the gifts that a child in the region will receive. That program, which is in its 11th year in Greenwood, is co-sponsored locally by the Salvation Army, Altrusa International Inc. of Greenwood and CB&S Bank.
“Each year, Altrusa ‘adopts’ a certain number of angels from the Salvation Army,” said Gina Haynes, Altrusa president. “This year we adopted 200 out of the 1,000 angels, and we will have a tree for people to chose their angel from inside the CB&S Bank on Park Avenue.”
Those who wish to help with the Angel Tree program will receive information about a child, including the name, gender, age, clothing size and toy wish list.
“It is a great project to do to teach your own children about the importance of giving back by having them help pick out the gifts,” Haynes said. “We hope people will give of their time and money this holiday season.”
The Angel Tree will begin Monday. The participants can return their gifts between Dec. 7 and Dec. 11.
For more information on the Salvation Army’s holiday programs, call 455-9679.
