The Enid News and Eagle, Enid, OK

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November 6, 2009

Enid YWCA seeking donations, volunteers for upcoming Children's Christmas Sale

By Kasey Fowler, Staff Writer

Enid YWCA is seeking donations and volunteers for its upcoming Children’s Christmas Sale.

The annual sale will be 9 a.m. to noon Dec. 12 at Oakwood Mall.

The sale is open to the public and has been a tradition in Enid for more than 30 years. The sale is designed to allow children ages 4 to 12 to buy Christmas presents for their family members at affordable prices.

“Everything is under $3. We want all the children to be able to buy things for their families and friends,” said Dena Patterson, children’s services director.

The YWCA accepts donations year-round for the sale, but now is the time they need to collect the most donations, she said.

“We have collected some items, but we will be needing a whole lot more. We will need new or nearly new items. My rule is, if it is something someone would be proud to receive for Christmas bring it in,” Patterson said. “We need men’s, women’s, teens, children, infants, jewelry, bath and body, household items and holiday, mostly Christmas, items.”

Besides donations of items, YWCA needs volunteers to set up the shop and help during the sale.

“We will need more volunteers. The 30th (of Nov.) through the 11th (of Dec.) we will need volunteers for setup and we need lots of volunteers for the day of the event,” Patterson said.

Volunteers will be needed on the day of the sale to help children shop for family members and assist in wrapping the gifts.

“The kids sign in. We have Santa’s Helpers to help them shop,” Patterson said. “We ask each child to make a list with people they want to shop for. When they leave the store, their Christmas presents are wrapped and all ready to go.”

Parents who bring their children will not be able to shop with them.

“Whoever brings them can’t come in the store. That is for the children. It makes them feel empowered to do it on their own,” Patterson said.

The children also get a photo with Santa Clause and their purchased presents wrapped for free .

Since the gifts are wrapped for the children, the YWCA also will need donations of boxes, gift bags and other wrapping materials.

This is the first year the sale will be held at the mall. Previously, the sale was at the YWCA, but Patterson said the sale had outgrown the space they had available.

“For the first year ever, it will be held at the mall and the mall is graciously donating the space to us,” Patterson said.

For information on the sale call YWCA at 234-7581.

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