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Charlotte County Department of Social Services Accepting Holiday Donations

By April Hall, Staff Writer

CHARLOTTE COUNTY – The Charlotte County Department of Social Services is once again preparing to assist children and senior citizens with the upcoming holiday seasons. Their hope is to be able to make Thanksgiving and Christmas a more memorable and joyous occasion for local foster children and senior citizens, and they are asking for the community’s help.

With the Thanksgiving holiday fast approaching and a decrease in public assistance, providing a food basket to a needy family is a great way to help. A food basket consists of traditional items for a Thanksgiving meal, such as turkey or ham, vegetables (yams, potatoes, corn and green beans), bread/rolls, dressing/stuffing and cake/pie. The deadline for Thanksgiving sponsorship is November 17, 2016; the baskets will be dispersed on November 21.

Along with the Thanksgiving food baskets, Christmas sponsorships are also needed for area children and senior citizens. When you sponsor a foster child and/or a senior citizen, you will receive a wish list containing the child/adult sizing information and items they may like. You then purchase whatever you feel comfortable with, there is no price limit on donations, our clients realize they may or may not get what is on their wish list. To get started with your sponsorship, please call 434-542-5164.

Christmas gifts should be new, unwrapped and have the wish list attached, and must be dropped off by December 1. They can be dropped off at Charlotte County Social Services, 400 Thomas Jefferson Hwy., Charlotte Court House, Monday-Friday between 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. For anyone unable to deliver your gifts, please call 434-542-5164 to schedule a pick-up.

Monetary donations and items such as shampoo, soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, hand/body lotion, hand sanitizer, laundry detergent, dish detergent, toilet paper, paper towels, tissues, word find puzzles, batteries and flashlights are always needed and appreciated. Items can be dropped off at the Charlotte County Social Services, Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Also serving as a drop off location for these items is Red Oak Excavating/SOVA Realty, located at 5192 Barnesville Hwy. Red Oak, VA, between 8 a.m.-4 p.m., Monday-Friday.

This program is 100 percent funded by donations from businesses, organizations and individuals of the community. No state or federal agencies supplement the program. The agency purchases Christmas gifts for children and/or adults who are not sponsored by businesses or individuals with the monetary donations they receive. The agency is a non-profit organization and donations are tax deductible.

Monetary donations are being accepted now and until December 15, 2016. Make checks payable to Charlotte County Department of Social Services and mail to DSS Christmas/Thanksgiving Program, P.O. Drawer 440, Charlotte Court House, VA 23923.