Truckee Community Christmas is working to help community members in need during the coming holiday season.

Many generous locals will be donating their time to collect and distribute food, toys, and warm coats to help neighbors in the community. This nonprofit is expected to benefit approximately 215 families, 25 teenage moms and their babies, 60 low-income seniors and 70 homebound seniors.

Truckee Community Christmas offers a range of ways that caring community members can step up to help:

• Food collection barrels will be placed in local grocery stores (Safeway, Save Mart, and New Moon) on the Saturday after Thanksgiving for donations of non-perishable food items;
• New, unwrapped toys may be placed in collection bins at banks, real estate offices, schools, homeowners’ association clubhouses, and businesses around town;
• Warm, clean, gently used winter coats may be dropped off at Church of the Mountains in downtown Truckee, or at Sierra Bible Church on Brockway Road;
• Donors can also provide necessities for our area seniors, whose wishes are often easy to fulfill and whose gratitude is always abundant.

In addition to donations of goods and services, Truckee Community Christmas needs help sorting, packing, and wrapping donated items at the Sierra Mountain Community Education Center on Donner Pass Road on Dec. 17-18.

If you would prefer to simply write a check to help with the effort, tax-deductible contributions can be mailed to Truckee Community Christmas, P.O. Box 2955, Truckee, CA 96160.