Ecumenical Ministries of Baldwin County also offers opportunities for donations to be made to help the less fortunate have a better holiday season.

Ecumenical Ministries calls their Christmas charity program “Christmas Sharing.” The program, while similar to Toys for Tots and Angel Tree, also provides needy families with food baskets to ensure no one goes hungry or without a present under the Christmas tree.

This program also reaches out to elderly and families, not just children who need a little extra help to make their season a little brighter. The program provides gifts individual’s request, along with food baskets.

Ecumenical Ministries held application days in October and November at both locations. As part of the application process Ecumenical Ministries staff interviewed all applicants.

All applicants must be residents of Baldwin County, according to Pam Meredith with Ecumenical Ministries. Meredith estimates there will be between 475 and 500 children who receive gifts from the Ecumenical Ministries branch in Foley. Ecumenical Ministries serves children from infancy to 13 years old. Older children are referred to Catholic Social Services.

“That is strictly children from Foley, Elberta, Lillian, Bon Secour and Magnolia Springs,” Meredith said. “The whole county has programs and we try to do it by geographical territory. We also take referrals from schools and work with some churches to make sure all the kids are covered.”

Once kids are identified, the parents are brought in for an interview with Ecumenical Ministries.

“We have just finished doing our interview process. At the moment we are working on getting all of our children sponsored. We think that we have got almost all of them sponsored. We are working with all the other agencies doing similar programs so there is not duplication,” Meredith said.

Meredith said the parents are asked what their children would want to get for Christmas and that information is included when the children are adopted.

All the gifts will be distributed next week on Dec. 16 at the Foley United Methodist Church on Pine Street, so Ecumenical Ministries elves are hard at work trying to make sure all the children end up with presents to open for Christmas.

“We mail the families a postcard and tell them they qualified for picking up their gifts. Some will get food boxes as well, but not all gifts come with food boxes. We base the food-box distribution on need,” Meredith said.

According to Meredith, the program has been around since at least the late 1980s, but since she took over in the 1990s the program has grown by leaps and bounds.    

“We started out with a program that the children and their parents would come to. We would sing Christmas carols and share the Christmas story and the real reason for Christmas. Then they would go to the armory and Santa was there and distribute the gifts,” said Meredith.

Now, the parents are asked not to bring their children to the distribution.

“We came to realize that the children really don’t need to know where the presents come from. The presents aren’t wrapped, but we supply wrapping supplies if the parents want them. We want them to put them under the tree and let them be from Santa, or even their parents,” said Meredith.

Volunteers primarily staff the program, according to Meredith.

This year’s program is expected to serve a similar number of children.

“The numbers are just phenomenal,” said Meredith.

Individuals or organizations can make donations to Ecumenical Ministries Distribution centers in Foley or Fairhope. Sponsorship forms to sponsor a child this Christmas are also available on their website, www.baldwinemi.com.

Meredith said there are still at least 20 angels who have not been sponsored yet, but even if no one adopts them before the distribution date they will still be taken care of by Ecumenical Ministries.

Whether individuals would like to adopt a child, pick up an extra toy while Christmas shopping to donate, or make a cash donation Meredith said every little bit will help make the holiday season brighter for nearly 500 local children.