It’s the most wonderful time of the year — or so the song says.
For many children in Centre County, Christmas is anything but the most wonderful time of the year because they won’t have presents to open on Christmas morning.
However, the Centre County Youth Service Bureau, along with Magnum Broadcasting, is working hard to make sure every child has a present to open on Christmas.
The fifth annual Christmas Crusade for Kids has begun and will continue through Friday, Dec. 18. Between now and then, the program is aiming to collect presents for more than 400 children in Centre County.
“The idea behind it is to really give kids an opportunity to really have a wish granted,” said Centre County Youth Service Bureau CEO Andrea Boyles. “We sit with the kids and really just do the Christmas list thing.”
And while most children enjoy crafting a Christmas list, Boyles said it can be a real struggle for some children to put themselves first.
“A lot of them want to say, ‘I want this for my mom. I want this for my sister.’ You have to say, ‘But what do you want?’ But we get the lists and we put it all together. Once we have that, the on-air folks try to get listeners to call in and sponsor a child.”
Magnum Broadcasting is comprised of Qwik Rock (105.9 FM), WPHB (1260 AM), WBLF (970 AM) and Y106.9 FM.
Once someone agrees to sponsor a child, that person purchases one item the child wants.
“We’ve been really successful in the past. We have more than 400 kids on the list. Historically, we’ve gotten all of those kids sponsored,” Boyles said.
As for the children’s requests, Boyles has seen it all. Some children are very basic, while others are very specific.
“We had one child write a ‘Dear Buyer’ letter. He called the sponsor a buyer and made a coupon for what he wanted,” Boyles said with a laugh. “He was real specific. He knows exactly what he wants.”
The 400 children are from different Youth Service Bureau programs, Boyles explained.
“These are kids from the youth centers, Big Brothers Big Sisters, kids living in our group homes … siblings, too. We might be working with a specific child, but we’ll pull their sibling in as well,” Boyles said.
The Christmas Crusade for Kids is still in the early stages and there are still many children in need of a sponsor, Boyles said.
“It’s slow going. I feel like that’s kind of our history. We inch along at the beginning and as we get closer, people come through. That’s the stage we’re at right now. I’m sure we’ll get people to step up and come through,” Boyles said.
The goal is to have gifts bought and dropped off at a sponsor location by Friday, Dec. 18.
“That gives us about a week to get them sorted and wrapped and out to kids. We have some done, but we will undoubtedly have some stragglers. We usually get some cash donations so we’ll do some shopping in that last week,” Boyles said.
According to Boyles, getting everything done during the final week leading up to Christmas is extremely challenging.
“It really is,” she said. “We’re incredibly grateful, but it is overwhelming. We’re talking about 400 to 450 gifts. You’re talking about getting the gifts wrapped, getting them to the right kid and getting them there in time.”
To sponsor a child, contact the Youth Service Bureau at (814) 237-5731.
