Local Christmas groups provide gifts for the holidays

Through the efforts of three local volunteer groups, families in need across the Silver Valley will have presents under their trees this year.

Making this possible are Santa's Workshop, The Wallace Christmas Fund, and the Mullan Community Foundation.

Santa's Workshop, the largest organization which caters to residents on the west-end of the Silver Valley and families in the Kellogg School District, was created more than 30 years ago by Joann Ross, Karen Rumpel and Cecelia Ruff. Their goal, like all the other groups, is to provide presents to needy local families around the holiday season.

Chairwoman of the group, Melba Gust, explains that the workshop has been due to the challenges of 2020.

"It's been a rough year, but the people of the Valley have been very generous," she said.

The process begins with the workshop dropping off applications at various locations such as Kellogg schools, the Avista building, and other assistance centers. From there, the applications are returned with recipient information and gift requests. To ensure no overlap, names are vetted and cross checked with the other groups and school.

The volunteers of Santa's Workshop then do their thing and get the presents that are to be picked up later by parents. Upon pickup, food vouchers are also provided through the Dave Smith Memorial Fund.

Santa's Workshop is able to procure these presents with money raised through donations and physical gift donations from the Kellogg High School JROTC program.

"They are so involved with Toys For Tots. We don't know what we would do without them," Gust said.

Last year alone, the Workshop helped 419 kids by providing presents. In just one week this year, they have received 87 applications with more on the way.

Further to the east, the Wallace Christmas Fund serves the same role as Santa's Workshop, just for the Wallace School District. Treasurer Jae Jean Achord explains that the group has had several different names, but has been active in one way or another for decades.

Similar to their neighbors, the Christmas Fund also holds an application period for parents to sign up via email and request gifts. This year, the group received more than 100 applications between October and now.

Following a name check, the presents are then procured, wrapped, and even delivered to the families.

"We have a lot of Santas and a lot of elves that deliver all the packages to every home," Achord said.

All of this is orchestrated from the Wallace Elks Lodge building.

Funding for the Christmas Fund comes through fundraisers held by the group. Due to COVID-19, the group had to forgo their normal dinner and instead hold a 12 days of Christmas silent auction on Facebook. Achord said that the auction was a success and raised roughly $6,000 for the fund.

"We have a great support system within our community," Achord said.

Even further to the east, coordinator Katie Murray and other committed volunteers put on the Mullan Community Foundation, which serves the families of the Mullan School District.

Murray said that the foundation received 43 applications this year and that the presents have already been acquired and wrapped. Both the foundation and the fund started their application drives way back in October to ensure that everything is ready around Christmas time.

Operated out of the Emmanuel Lutheran Church, the foundation hosts a wrapping event where parents come in and wrap the presents themselves. The parents then come back closer to Christmas and pick them up.

All three of the organizations are currently accepting financial donations to help pay for the costs of the presents.

For Santa's Workshop, donations can be called in at 509-290-2071 or mailed to P.O. Box 308, Kingston, ID 83839.

For the Wallace Christmas Fund, checks can be sent to P.O. Box 304, Silverton, ID 83867.

For the Mullan Community Foundation, checks can be mailed to P.O. Box 472, Mullan, ID, 83846.