By Carol Fisher-Linn
It’s common that during the Christmas season you hear or read about organizations seeking donations of goods and money to help the needy in their communities. And rightly so. The approaching holidays and public assistance budget cuts exacerbate the needs of struggling families to meet their regular expenses plus find ways to make the season special for their families. Check your receipts when you shop for everyday items and then look at the extra cost for that special holiday meal. If a disadvantaged family can access a food pantry, they may indeed have a ham or turkey dinner, thanks to the generosity of those individuals and companies/organizations that donate. In families with very limited incomes, Christmas “gifts” are often actual NEEDS like coats, boots and warm weather wear. Kids in those families seldom ask for Bluetooth karaoke singing machines, kitchen play sets, ride-on excavators or jeeps, bikes, legos, hot-wheel racecar sets or even Jellycat stuffed animals. Some will be happy to receive one or two toy gifts and could only dream of the outrageous pile of gifts that the more privileged find under their trees. Being guilty of over-gifting my own children in my more affluent days, I know what I am talking about. Frankly, today I would be embarrassed for you to see the Christmas photos of those privileged by-gone days. As life continued, I also went to being one of those parents counting every dime and finding clever ways to make Christmas special for my family despite my limited income. Yes, I tell this story from having been there.
program is open year-round to anyone in need of
anything from gently used clothing, shoes, boots,
beds, sofas, desks, chairs, toys, kitchenware, etc.
Call the confi dential number 716-499-9850 if you
have items/furniture, kitchenware to donate (they
will pick up) or if you are in search of an item for
your own home. And, please, follow Tim Jackson’s
example and remember to donate to your local food
pantry, especially at this holiday time of year
Christmas captures our focus right now as the big day approaches, but organizations like Pay It Forward in Salamanca, through Cattaraugus County Community Action, are always ready to answer every day needs from January through December, every year since 2011. Back then, Pay It Forward founder, Tim Jackson, owned Terra Publishing in Salamanca. He built that building in 1990. After the business shut down, he sold the building to someone who said they were putting in a large restaurant. Unfortunately, that individual lied and Tim was only too happy to buy the building back several years ago and put it to good use.
Speaking with Tim is a pleasure. Even his voice over the phone radiates a warmth and caring, peppered with a smart businessman’s undertones. He keeps active in the work world, but back in 2011 he says he “was making a lot of money” and wanted to put some of that into the community. He started with $1000 and a “Secret Santa” idea. He went to the local radio station and asked them to spread the word to have others join in the Christmas giving enterprise. He did this for several years but, alas, no one ever joined the fun. Knowing he had to change strategy he joined ranks with Community Action and eventually things happened.
Every year, more monetary donations came in. Tim reports that donors this year include Community Bank, Five Star Bank, Cattaraugus County Bank, Urban Auto and Dens Auto, Salamanca Senior Center, Hair Maxx, Edna’s Grab and Go, Kiwanis Club, Sassy’s Truck Stop, plus numerous individuals give at their food drives and in their donation jars.
The tags have now been gathered from the Christmas Giving Trees placed throughout the fifteen communities they serve from Salamanca to Cherry Creek so the Christmas gift 2025 signup is closed. The Christmas elf volunteers are getting to work filling lists, checking them twice and packaging the presents that will be delivered by more volunteers, social workers, and the Seneca Nation which fills its ambulance with goodies and delivers them to those who cannot come to the Terra Publishing building on North State Street to pick them up. On Sunday, December 21 (1-5pm) those who have signed on for the program are invited to come to the building. Volunteers will greet them at the Terra building and give them the gifts their family members have requested.
Secret Santa may return to the North Pole, but the program is open year-round to anyone in need of anything from gently used clothing, shoes, boots, beds, sofas, desks, chairs, toys, kitchenware, etc. Call the confidential number 716-499-9850 if you have items/furniture, kitchenware to donate (they will pick up) or if you are in search of an item for your own home. And, please, follow Tim Jackson’s example and remember to donate to your local food pantry, especially at this holiday time of year. Your actions and generosity in this season of giving will surely rebound to you in unexpected ways because that’s how the circle of giving works. May you have a Merry Christmas as you help make it a Merry Christmas for others.