Salvation Army Christmas drive begins
The Christmas shopping season is in full swing and with more and more people doing their shopping from the comfort of their own home one department store is teaming up with the Salvation Army to make giving to the needy with similar ease.
The Salvation Army provides less fortunate children in Clermont County with Christmas gifts each year through their Angel Giving Tree program and through JCPenny donations can be made online.
The Batavia Corps is planning to help between 330 and 350 children this year. Residents can choose a tag for a child from trees located in department stores, restaurants, and some area churches. The tag includes the child’s name, clothing size, and one or two toys they have asked for. Captain John Dave said the local Corps receives 75 percent of the names back.
To meet the toy needs of the remaining 25 percent the Salvation Army partners with the United States Marine Corps through the Toys for Tots program.
“We try to have adequate toys for the children,” Dave said. “Toys for Tots helps us with the toy side where there is a void.”
Dave said he hopes the partnership with JCPenny, which began last year, will provide enough clothing to meet the needs.
“It’s another avenue for us to receive participation,” Dave said. “Hopefully JCPenny online will help fill our clothing needs.”
Those wishing to donate through JCPenny can do so by visiting jcpenny.com/angel. They can select a child by zipcode or city and state and age range and gender. The “angel” is then e-mailed to the user along with a list of requested items. People can then choose to shop for the items and deliver them to the Salvation Army themselves, or they can purchase the items online at jcp.com and ship them free of charge through a partnership with UPS to the Greater Cincinnati collection point where they will be picked up by a Batavia Corps volunteer.
Those shopping online must finalize their orders by Dec. 10. Families will be able to pick up their items at the Salvation Army the week of Christmas.