Photo courtesy of Keweenaw Community Health Foundation Many nonprofit organizations donate to Christmas toy and clothing campaigns during the holidays. Recently, The Keweenaw Community Health Foundation donated $1,000 to No Kid Without a Christmas.

EAGLE RIVER — There are three leading programs in Houghton and Keweenaw counties which share a primary mission of ensuring every child of a family experiencing financial insecurity will have a gift for Christmas. These are coordinated by the Salvation Army, in Hancock, the Copper Country Angel Mission’s Angel Tree, headquartered in the village of Calumet, and No Kid Without a Christmas, under the Keweenaw County Sheriff’s Office.

In Houghton County, volunteers and staff at The Salvation Army and the Angel Mission have partnered since October to organize and prepare for another Christmas Season, Carol Plichta, with the Salvation Army said. “Together we offer parents an opportunity to register their children in our Angel Tree Christmas programs,” Plichta said.

The Angel Tree program has a process by which families in need fill out a registration confirming that the family needs assistance providing a gift for their child or children for Christmas, and that the family is not signing up for any other Christmas gift program. Once Angel Mission personnel receive the registration, they match the family to a sponsor.

Plichta advises parents who signed their children for the Angel Tree program to pick up the red bags as soon as they can. “Santa’s Bags are all in at the Salvation Army in Hancock,” Plichta said. “Please pick them up promptly as the Elves toy shop is closing soon.” She reminded parents that there will be no bag pick up after Christmas.

Anonymity is maintained for both families and sponsors, said Renee Tuoriniemi, Angel Mission volunteer. The sponsor is not informed on who they are sponsoring, and the sponsor is not identified with to the recipient. However, in the registration process, the Angel Mission states the family’s information may be shared with its program partners, the Salvation Army and Keweenaw County Sheriff’s Office’s No Kid Without a Christmas program.

The No Kid Without a Christmas program provides toys, winter clothing such as coats, hats, gloves, boots, and food cards to local children in need during the holidays, relying on community donations.

Keweenaw County Sheriff Curt Pennala said No Kid Without a Christmas functions a bit differently than its partners.

While the Angel Tree assigns sponsors to families, the Sheriff’s Office receives clothing and toy donations, as well as monetary donations. Monetary donations are then used to purchase specific items to meet a specified need.

In Keweenaw County, said Pennala, with very few exceptions, everything donated to No Kids Without a Christmas stays in Keweenaw County.

“Sometimes we’ll get clothing donations that we just can’t find a use for, so we’ll bring them to the Angel Tree.” he said.

These are donated clothing items that might be of a certain size that cannot be matched to anyone on the list.

The Angel Mission is currently operating two drives: The Angel Tree and the Coat the Copper Country winter clothing drive.

“We’ll continue accepting donations through at least Friday, Dec. 19 for Angel Tree,” Tuoriniemi said, “and through the end of February for Coat the Copper Country.”