News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
The Van Buren County Santa Shop is in need of toys and monetary donations to help kids this holiday.
Santa Shop Coordinator Sarah Hillis said the Santa Shop has never served less than 200 kids for Christmas and based on sign-ups there could be more demand than ever. Hillis said usually these kids are from single families that come from homes experiencing opioid addiction or live with grandparents on a fixed income. However, this year has all of those factors and now a pandemic to deal with.
“My phone starts ringing in the morning at 8:00 AM in the morning and I think that it’s due to COVID,” Hillis said. “I really believe that we’re gonna have just a lot more than 200 kids this year because people have been out of work and their hours have been cut.”
Hillis said donations for older kids are the biggest need every year. That’s where she said monetary donations can help fill in gaps for the age groups they get the least donations for.
“Everybody wants to buy for babies, we don’t have any issues with getting things for babies,” Hillis said. “We have a real hard time with getting donations for six year old girls and boys, six to 12 to 13 years old we have difficulties with anything from that age.”
Hillis said the Van Buren County Santa Shop started over 25 years ago by distributing used toys around schools. It has turned into an actual store where families can sign up and go through picking out toys, in an attempt to make Christmas a reality for kids in need.
“We set the store up in age categories of toys and things, we set it up in one day and everything is organized, we set it up there at the Fair barn,” Hillis said. “Then we have the people come in and shop the next day.”
Hillis said that donations can be dropped off at the Van Buren County Agriculture Extension Office and the Van Buren County Administrative Building. The Santa Shop will be open on December 12, and sign-ups end on December 10.
