craigdailypress.com

If seven tons of food, four tons of clothing, more than 600 toys and $23,000 in cash isn't enough to paint a picture of how generous Moffat County residents are, maybe the more than $340,000 they contributed to United Way last year make the picture more clear.

With requests at an all-time high at the Interfaith Food Bank and community needs every bit as high as last year, the 93.7 KRAI holiday drive will be in full swing Dec. 8 through Dec. 12 at the west end of Centennial Mall. Each morning from 5 a.m. to 10 a.m., organizer Rick Allen and the KRAI staff, with the help of the Moffat County United Way and numerous community volunteers, will be weathering the cold to take donations of food, clothing, new toys and cash in hopes of meeting last year's record numbers.

The event, which surpassed expectations last year, has grown so popular that Allen enlisted professional help this year.

"We will have an accountant keeping track of monies collected and where they are going this year," Allen said. "It has gotten way bigger than I can handle alone."

One hundred percent of the collected donations benefit Moffat County residents.

The holiday drive supplements programs offered by Advocates -- Crisis Support Services, Christmas for Kids, Interfaith Food Bank and the Community Budget Center.

This year, the program will expand to include a 'Coats for Kids' program co-sponsored by the Moffat County High School National Honor Society, and 'Christmas for Seniors'."

Christmas for Seniors will accept cash or gift donations for senior citizens in Moffat County who might not have family, or who may not be able to get out of their homes during the holiday season Allen said.

"There are 1,200 seniors in Moffat County and we would like to be sure that they are on the receiving end this year," Christmas for Kids chair Georgina McAnally said.

Many elderly live on such fixed incomes, because of high mediation costs that they simply don't have the money for the extras, McAnally said.

"We seem to forget our senior population," she said. "It's not only about the kids."

People who wish to make a contribution to the senior program can do so by stopping by the holiday drive, or by choosing a tag from the tree located inside Kmart. Senior citizen requests are on green and red tags, and Christmas for Kids requests are on white tags, said McAnally.

McAnally, who is passionate about the Christmas for Kids program, knows that the need is equally great for area children.

"We were able to provide more than 300 children with Christmas last year," she said. "I would anticipate the need to be as great as it has been in past years."

Christmas for Kids has grown in recent years with the addition of the Adopt a Bike program started by the Craig Police Department.

The program, which uses bicycles donated from police impound, is run by volunteers from Trapper Mine, Cook Chevrolet, Severson Supply, Auto Radiator Service, Victory Motors, Craig Ford, Yampa Auto Body and Action Motorsports who fix the bicycles and get them into working order for the holiday drive.

Applications for both the senior and Christmas for Kids programs are available at the local United Way office located at 651 Yampa Ave. Senior citizen applications are also available at Sunset Meadows I and II. Applications will be accepted for both programs through Dec. 12. For more information about the application process, call Corrie Scott at 824-6222.

Samantha Johnston can be reached at 824-7031 or by e-mail at sjohnston@craigdailypress.com.