As the holiday season nears, area groups are busy helping the less fortunate.

Email tneditor@tnonline.com to let us know what the wish list is for your nonprofit group.

Please be sure to include your contact information so people can fulfill your wishes.

We will compile everyone’s lists and run them periodically in the Times News during the holiday season.

Valor Clinic

Valor Clinic Foundation is always seeking donations of boots, gloves, hats, weather-resistant winter coats, food for stand down (plastic jars of peanut butter, cans of tuna or salmon, small cans of fruit, meat-based soup with veggies, Dinty Moore Stew, 12-ounce V8 fruit or vegetable juice), and hygiene items (soap/body wash, shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrush and floss, comb, deodorant, foot powder, nail care, disposable razors).

Please contact Amy at abamford@valorclinic.org or Christine at 570-413-3344.

Jim Thorpe Rotary

The Rotary Club of Jim Thorpe is wishing for Forman Mills gift cards or monetary donations to buy 1,000 articles of clothing for 150 children in need on a Dec. 11 shopping trip assisted by CCTI marketing students and wrapped by Jim Thorpe Area High School National Honor Society students.

Send to:

Times News Holiday Wish List

c/o Rotary Club of Jim Thorpe

P.O. Box 103

Jim Thorpe, PA 18229

LEAF

The Lehighton Education and Athletic Foundation is looking for volunteers to serve on various committees within the organization.

LEAF is an independent, charitable organization which has been privately established and is dedicated to providing support for students and programs outside of the school district’s budget.

If you are interested in joining or learning more, please visit our website: leaf-foundation.org or calling President Hugh Dugan at 610-554-4864.

Socks for Seniors

The Socks for Seniors Project is in full swing once again for the sixth year.

Mary Ann Dulaney and daughter, Jessica Kutza, coordinators for the project, with the assistance of area businesses/locations are collecting donations of warm socks and other items to distribute to local nursing home/rehab center residents for the holiday season.

In addition to donations of nonskid and regular socks, personal care items (shampoo, lotion, chap stick, deodorant, brushes, combs, aftershave, shower caps, small hand sanitizers), individually wrapped snacks or sugar free candy, soft tissues, costume jewelry, garden gloves (for wheelchair use), backscratchers, puzzle books and anything to bring cheer to the elders are appreciated.

“These are simple, inexpensive products that most don’t consider special gifts, but do make a difference. Soft tissues are a favorite among many,” Kutza said. “A lot of these items are on sale now and can easily be picked up while you are shopping for the holidays.”

Socks for Seniors is a nationwide service project that supports individual efforts to hold sock drives in local communities. Founded by Jamie Coyne in Columbus, Ohio, this was to ensure that all seniors, even those without family members, would have a gift to open at the holidays.

New, unwrapped items can be dropped off at the following locations:

Coaldale: Tommy’s Restaurant, Angela Triplex Theatre

Lansford: Jim Thorpe Neighborhood Bank, JJ’s Hair & Tanning & Cynthia’s Cynful Styles

Summit Hill: Hiles Brothers

Nesquehoning: Classic Beverage

Jim Thorpe: Mauch Chunk 5 & 10

Lehighton: Beacon 443

Tamaqua: Dr. Puddu’s office, AAA, M&S Hardware

To take part in the Socks for Seniors program, simply drop off a new, unwrapped item at a local drop-off box. The deadline is Dec. 8.

Businesses interested in hosting a drop-off box or Nursing Centers in need of gifts can contact Dulaney at 570645-4228 or madula@ptd.net.

“Each year we are overwhelmed by the generosity of so many people. The businesses await the arrival of the boxes and look forward to collecting donations,” Dulaney said. “We are grateful to everyone who shares the spirit of Christmas through this project and throughout the nursing facilities.”

Dylan and Gavin’s Rainbow

Dylan and Gavin’s Rainbow provides an outreach to families experiencing a serious condition of a child or death of a child. Our wish list is:

1. Comfort items such as stuffed animals and small games to accompany the monetary gift we send to families.

2. Gift cards for children and families (for food, gas, other) to accompany the monetary gift we send to families.

3. Specially made Dylan and Gavin’s Rainbow note cards with our logo, to send personalized messages to families we reach out to.

Our contact information is

Dylan and Gavin’s Rainbow

250 S. Ninth St.

Lehighton, Pa. 18235

Dave and Lora Krum

610-377-6188

Operation School Wear

Operation School Wear has been accepting clothing donations and supplying local people with needed school uniforms and children’s clothes for more than three years now. We tend to fly under the radar as we are very busy doing laundry, picking up donations and making deliveries on a daily basis.

We help thousands of people from Carbon County every year. They are referred to us by school administrations, CareerLink, Pathstone, Headstart, Family Promise, Turn To Us and other nonprofit organizations. There is little time for grant writing or socializing with the “right” people. We are diligently working to make this a better place for the residents of this area.

No one draw a salary at our organization, but we do need to cover our expenses. What expenses do we have? Laundry detergent and gas for making deliveries cost about $250 per month.

Laundry detergent and gas cards will keep us up and running. Any help that you can provide will be greatly appreciated.

Gift cards may be mailed to:

Operation School Wear

2310 Maple Shade Drive

Jim Thorpe PA 18229

484-547-7075

Woman’s Cancer Support Group

This group is geared specifically toward women who have been diagnosed with cancer some time in their lives and is ideal for people who are looking for personal and mutual support for cancer-related issues. We are currently in need of the following: Gift cards (Giant, Walmart etc.) to purchase healthy food/snacks, donations of coffee, monetary donations (to be used in acquiring guest speakers) and for supplies for our meetings, monetary donations to enable our group to attend “The PA Breast Cancer Coalition Workshops” in Harrisburg and all other cancer-related workshops.

For more information or questions, call Karen at 610-377-6279 or kgeiger4@verizon.net.