Mike Wolanin | The Republic Volunteer Yesenia Palomino, left, gets delivery instructions from Melissa Wilson during Columbus Firemen’s Cheer Fund gift delivery day at the Columbus Firemen’s Cheer Fund building in Columbus, Ind., Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023.
With the deadline fast approaching, demand for assistance from holiday charities in Bartholomew County has reached a level substantially higher than last year.
“The total we did last year, with all programs combined, was 2,989 children,” Community Action Center Executive Director Alicia Monroe said. “We are at 2,980 kids (as of Tuesday morning). I would foresee exceeding last year’s numbers by at least a couple of hundred, if not more.”
The deadline for parents or guardians to register a child for assistance at 812-375-2216 is 4 p.m. Friday.
“Many people wait until the last few days before the deadline,” Monroe said, adding that the last week of registration is always the busiest week of the year at her agency.
A part of the United Way of Bartholomew County, the Community Action Center screens requests for assistance through its Holiday Hotline for several charities. They include the Columbus Firemen’s Cheer Fund, Toys For Tots, Shop With a Cop, the Community Center of Hope, St. Bartholomew’s Giving Tree and Christmas with a Veteran.
A significant responsibility handled by the Community Action Center is maintaining a data base to ensure no child is served by more than one charity. When asked if there have been instances where someone tries to get a child signed up for more than one program, Monroe said that happens more often than she’d like.
“But more likely than not, they don’t do it purposefully,” Monroe said. “It’s a lot of split families, that’s what it is.”
Cheer Fund
The Cheer Fund served 1,089 children last year, co-chairman Ben Noblitt said.
“We are up a couple of hundred of names from this same time last year,” he added.
Each child is provided with a gift box that contains five toys, three stocking stuffers, two books, a board game, and either a stuffed animal or a ball, depending on the age of the child, Noblitt said. While the Cheer Fund has the connections to obtain toys at lower prices by buying in bulk, the retail value of each gift box is between $125 and $150, he said.
Monetary contributions are what most local holiday charities need at this time, Monroe said. It allows each nonprofit to purchase precisely what they need, she added.
While toy donations are distributed the same year they are received, Noblitt said his organization plans ahead by trying to use cash contributions that were collected the previous year.
“It kind of provides us a buffer in case something happens,” the Cheer Fund co-chairman said. “So if donations go down, we’d still have money to function.”
Delivery day
Deliveries for the Cheer Fund will begin at 8 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 14 at the organization’s headquarters, 2674 Verhulst St. in the Columbus Air Park.
On average, about 40 drivers use their own vehicles to transport gift boxes to the homes of recipients each year, Noblitt said. Half of those drivers will come through the line two or three times to make multiple delivery trips, he added.
“We are always looking for more drivers on delivery day,” Noblitt said. “But drivers are being asked to stay in their vehicles (while others load their vehicle). It’s more of a safety issue than anything else. We don’t want someone to get out and get hurt.”
The drivers and their passengers still get a visual feast as they make their way through the building. The firefighters have been lauded by their efforts to create a Christmas wonderland for volunteers to view as their vehicles are being loaded. For example, there was a live reindeer last year, a snow-making machine, elaborate lights, holiday displays and plenty of seasonal music.
Much of the ambiance is brought in by the volunteer drivers themselves, who often decorate their vehicles with colored lights and wear an appropriate outfit, Noblitt said. Some dress as elves, while more than one volunteer was decked out in an elaborate Grinch outfit in 2023.
Last year’s deliveries concluded at 9:16 a.m – just a little over an hour after they began, Noblitt said. But with more children being served, he said deliveries may take a little longer this year.
Now in its 94th year, the Cheer Fund is known as the oldest charity in Bartholomew County that depends solely on public donations to help children and teens in need at Christmas.
How to help
Delivery day for the Columbus Firemen’s Cheer Fund is Saturday, Dec. 14. With a higher demand, more volunteer drivers are encouraged to show up this year, firefighters said. Deliveries start at 8 a.m. from the Cheer Fund headquarters at 2674 Verhulst St. in the Columbus Air Park area.
While the donation of a new toy is always welcome, Cheer Fund officials say cash contributions will best help their charity at this late stage.The money can be used to purchase requested items that have not been donated.
Monetary donations and new toys may be dropped off at any Columbus fire station.
