By Olivia Sugg, Staff Writer

Not many people would think of Christmas as something that needs to be “rescued,” but like many other things in 2020, a little bit of “rescuing” couldn’t hurt. 

Earlier this year, the Salvation Army launched its “Rescue Christmas Campaign,” because officials expected COVID-19 to cause more families than ever to need help this holiday season.

“Our anticipation was that donations are going to be down by 50% this Christmas season, and the need was going to be up 150%,” Salvation Army Community Development and Relations Manager Toni Sawyer said.

The Salvation Army is an organization that assists many people who are going through hard times or are in an “emergency situation,” like a loss of income or house fire. Although the Salvation Army does a lot during the year, some of its largest and best-known missions take place during the holiday season.  

The Salvation Army’s red kettle fundraiser during the holidays is a major source of funds for the entire year. Most everyone has seen the volunteers ringing bells and collecting money outside of stores like Walmart, Walgreens, Belk and Food Lion.

“We weren’t sure if we were going to be able to ring bells this year, because we were not sure if stores were going to want us out there,” Sawyer said. “However, that has not happened. Everybody has been very supportive.”

Luckily, the bell ringers will still be outside stores this holiday season, but with a few minor changes. They will be standing six feet away from the kettles with masks on and everything will be frequently wiped down. The kettles will also have Apple and Google Pay readers on the signs for contactless donation. 

The Salvation Army also facilitates an Angel Tree program that helps children receive Christmas gifts if their family may not be able to afford them. Adoptable angels on Christmas trees give information on what to purchase for specific families and their children.

Likewise, the Outer Banks Woman’s Club has a similar program that helps children in need receive Christmas gifts. The Outer Banks Woman’s Club Angel Gift program has been running for 33 years. Club members partner with social services to identify families who are in need and help to provide items that they may not be able to supply during the holiday season.

Like the Salvation Army, the Outer Banks Woman’s Club has Angel Trees spread around the community. Local organizations can also adopt an entire family by collecting the items that they have asked for. 

The club also uses their funds and donations from the community to purchase gifts for the program. 

“We have a lot of support from the community. The Colington Fire Department is getting ready to do a barbeque and all of the proceeds are going to the Angel Gift program,” said Michele Luckenbaugh, Chair of Communications and Publicity for the Outer Banks Woman’s Club.  

COVID-19 has made Angel Gift programs more important than ever this holiday season.

“We have a lot of people within the Outer Banks community that work in the service industry and a lot of those folks lost their jobs earlier in the year,” Luckenbaugh said. “People are struggling to make mortgage payments and pay bills, so I just think it’s been a really tough year for people in general.”  

The Outer Banks Woman’s Club predicted that COVID-19 could affect this year’s Angel Gift Program, but members wanted to continue the program because the need would be greater than ever. To minimize risk, this year’s drop-off and pick-up of donations at the Baum Center will be drive-through only and proper distancing/sanitation procedures will be put into place.

“We don’t want COVID to impact our ability to continue to give those children a special Christmas,” Luckenbaugh said. 

Charity organizations help out with more than just presents under the tree during the holiday season. The Beach Food Pantry does a lot to help people all year round, but offers even more assistance in the community during the holidays.

The Beach Food Pantry usually gives out pre-packaged bags that provide a holiday meal for families that may not normally be able to afford one. Due to COVID-19, this year’s holiday meals will not be pre-packaged, but instead, families can go through the food pantry and pick out which food items they would like, which is similar to the normal food distribution system. 

The Beach Food Pantry is also trying to be more inclusive with the items it stocks, providing a better variety of healthy and international items. 

As the tourist season came to an end, the Beach Food Pantry has seen an increase in demand and expects that demand to keep rising due to the effects of the coronavirus. 

“We are expecting to see more demand than we’ve ever seen before and we normally do between 300 to 350 of the bags,” said Elisabeth Silverthorne, Executive Director of the Beach Food Pantry. 

Anyone can help out the Beach Food Pantry by collecting/donating food items or just letting people know that they are there.

“I want people to have an open mind and realize that it’s there to help and not something that should have a stigma attached to it,” Silverthorne said. 

Donating to the Beach Food Pantry, Salvation Army or Outer Banks Woman’s Club are a just few ways to help out the community this holiday season, and COVID-19 has made supporting these causes more important than ever.

Sophomore Olivia Sugg can be reached at [email protected]. 

Click the links below for donation information:

• More information on donating to the Salvation Army’s Rescue Christmas Campaign: https://www.salvationarmyusa.org/usn/brighten-the-holidays/
• More information on donating to the OBWC Angel Gift Program: https://www.gfwc-obwc.com/angel-gift-program
• More information on donating to the Beach Food Pantry: https://beachfoodpantry.org/take-action/