Campaigns are under way to bring food, toys and gifts to Coos County's neediest during the Christmas season.
A food and toy collection drive, donations of children's clothing and a model railroad display are the highlights of the Charleston Volunteer Firefighters' holiday activities, which began last week.
The volunteer firefighters' group, a nonprofit agency, is sponsoring the collection of non-perishable foods, clothing, toys and personal-care items. Donations can be left at the Charleston Rural Fire Protection District, 92342 Cape Arago Highway, Coos Bay, through Christmas Eve.
The items will be packaged into gift bags to be distributed to students at Madison Elementary School, according to Debra Shield, organizer of the Charleston firefighters' Christmas events. About 500 books also will be donated to the school.
The Charleston Volunteer Firefighters group also has set up a Christmas tree at the Charleston fire station with tags allowing donors to take part in a clothing donation campaign. Visitors can take a tag - each listing the age and gender of a child - and receive information on clothing size to help them buy the appropriate clothes, which then can be left at the fire station. The donated clothes will be distributed by the Salvation Army.
Finally, the firefighters' volunteer group is sponsoring the third-annual Christmas Village for Fire Prevention, a display at the Charleston Fire District featuring HO-, N- and O-gauge electric trains accompanied by 140 lighted buildings and nearly 300 figurines. The Christmas Village display is open to the public from 5:30 to 9 p.m. daily through Christmas Eve.
For more information, those interested can call the Charleston Rural Fire Protection District at 888-3268.
Members of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves are collecting holiday gifts from the community for the 57th-annual Toys for Tots toy drive.
In 2002, Toys for Tots volunteers in Coos County collected about 4,500 gifts and purchased 1,000 more, then donated them to about 1,300 children, according to Laura Doffing, program director for Coos County.
Collection barrels where donors can leave toys will be provided at the following Coos County businesses:
Coos Bay
€ Coos Bay Fire Department;
€ Bi-Mart, 550 S. Fourth St.;
€ Grocery Outlet, 1385 Newmark Ave.;
€ Kmart, 3111 Ocean Blvd. S.E.;
€ Klamath First, 212 S. Fifth St.;
€ North Bend Medical Centers Inc., 1900 Woodland Drive;
€ Wal-Mart, 2051 Newmark Ave.; and
€ The World, 350 Commercial Ave.
Empire
€ Klamath First, 150 S. Wall St.
North Bend
€ Bi-Mart, 2131 Newmark St.;
€ Klamath First, 1611 Virginia Ave.;
€ Pony Village Mall, 1611 Virginia Ave.; and
€ Video & More, 1226 Virginia Ave.
Coquille
€ Klamath First, 259 N. Adams St.
Bandon
€ McNair's True Value Hardware, 395 Second St.;
€ Tiffany's Drug, 44 Michigan Ave. N.E.;
€ K & S Dollar Store, 77 Michigan Ave. S.E.;
€ Bandon Pizza, Bandon Shopping Center;
€ Ray's Food Place, 66 Michigan Ave. S.E.;
€ Price 'n' Pride, 65 10th St.;
€ Bandon Video, 20 10th St. S.E.;
€ Umpqua Bank, 1125 Highway 101;
€ Klamath First, 1095 Oregon Ave. S.E.;
€ Shindler's Pharmacy, 215 10th St. S.E.;
€ Bandon Public Library;
€ Oregon Federal Credit Union, 75 12th St. S.E.;
€ The Key Shop, 89 Michigan Ave. S.E.;
€ Southern Coos Hospital & Health Center, 900 11th St. S.E.;
€ Holy Trinity Catholic Church, 355 Oregon Ave. S.E.; and
€ Jack's Pizza, 490 Highway 101.
Volunteers will collect the gifts, then distribute them on Saturday at Pony Village Mall.
For more information about Toys for Tots, those interested can call Laura Doffing at 347-4806. Those living in Bandon can call Elaine Caldwell at 347-2587. Information about the program also is available online at
http://www.toysfortots.org.In Port Orford, the Good House is collecting food to package into about 100 holiday food boxes for its Holiday Food Special.
Donors can bring non-perishable items, including canned cranberry sauce and dressing, to the Good House, located at 14th and Idaho streets, on Wednesdays from 10 to 11:45 a.m. and from 1 to 3:45 p.m.
The donations will be packaged with turkeys into food boxes, which will be distributed on Saturday. The boxes will be the last of 13 the Good House provides annually to those in need.
Organizers of the Holiday Food Special also are accepting check donations to support the program. Checks should be written and mailed to The Common Good, P.O. Box 564, Port Orford, OR 97465.
For more information, those interested can call the Good House on Wednesdays at (541) 332-1365. At other times, call Frank Cramer at (541) 332-2113, Mike King at (541) 332-0289 or Ray Johnson at (541) 332-6325.
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