OXFORD — With requests for Christmas presents pouring in earlier than ever this year, Rightstart has added two new board members to help keep up with the demand for its Christmas for Kids and Christmas for Teens programs.

New board members Janis Hutchins and Susan Bachelder have joined the all-volunteer organization to help collect donations and fill wish lists for local children and teenagers.

“We don’t usually get this many this early,” Rightstart President Connie Allen said Friday about the requests rolling in. She said the bulk of requests usually come close to the Dec. 12 deadline, as parents who thought they could afford to fill their children’s Christmas lists realize they can’t.

The program isn’t as well funded this year, partially because it’s the first year without the Christmas concert, but Allen said she’s confident the organization will find a way to help every family that asks, just as she’s done for more than 30 years.

“We operate every year on the faith that we can do it,” she said, “and every year we do.”

The Christmas programs provide new items for local children and teenagers. For children, that means toys their parents can’t afford. Christmas for Kids also includes a book, a hat and mittens for each child who meets income guidelines. The Christmas for Teens program provides clothes, toiletries and other items for teens who meet income guidelines and who are full-time students at local schools.

The eligibility guidelines are the same as those for heating assistance. The identities of those requesting help are kept confidential.

Parents submit wish lists, and a staff of hardworking volunteers match up the lists with donated items, often using donated items to purchase specific wish list items. Christmas for Teens director and Rightstart Vice President Jean Delamater said it’s even harder for teenagers, who request clothes in specific sizes.

Delamater said that teens often ask for a combination of clothing and gadgets like mp3 players, but this year the demand for necessities outweighs toys and electronics.

“We’re not getting a lot of requests for things,” she said. “We’re getting requests for clothes.”

Volunteers have already collected hundreds of donated toys and bought others. Hutchins said she enjoys taking long lists to the stores and said the heaping shopping carts draw attention. “I get asked, ‘How many grandchildren do you have?’” by other shoppers,” she said, laughing.

Hutchins sees patterns in the wish lists. “On almost every child’s list there’s a doll or Legos or a truck or a game,” she said. Rightstart can’t always fill specific requests, but they come as close as they can.

The Coat Closet, which takes gently used coats and gives them to people who need them, is running short on children’s coats this year. Delamater said they see an influx after Christmas each year, as local families get new coats and donate their old ones, but need will be high for the next month.

The need seems to grow every year. “We have a lot of people who have been unemployed for a long time,” Allen said. She said last year there were more than 700 requests between Christmas for Kids and Christmas for Teens. 

Anyone interested in donating to Rightstart can send donations to P.O. Box 726, Norway, ME 04268. People can donate toys to Christmas for Kids collection boxes at Hannaford and New Balance in Oxford and at Community Concepts and the Oxford Hills Chamber of Commerce office in Paris.

To inquire about specific needs for Christmas for Kids, contact Connie Allen at 743-5728. For Christmas for Teens, call Jean Delamater at 539-4587. For the Coat Room, contact Wendy Williams at 527-2351.

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