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Christmas

Greenwood Lake Camp and Retreat Center

The Salvation Army in Greater Columbus provides services year round, but we're most visible at Christmas. Each year we provide special assistance to thousands of families in Central Ohio. A variety of programs provide food, clothing and toys to those without the financial resources to meet many of their basic needs.

Celebrity Red Kettles are here!

Check out our famous faces! Meet them in person or give in their honor online!
2009 Celebrity Red Kettles grid of celebrities, dates and locations

Program Name	Who can help?	How can you help?
Red Kettle Campaign (Christmas Fundraiser that supports programs and facilities year-round)	Individuals, businesses, clubs, churches, etc.	Ring a bell at a red kettle once a week between Thanksgiving and Christmas! Choose your location!
Christmas Cheer (Large-scale food and toy distribution at Fairgrounds, supported by food drives and toy drives)	Individuals, businesses, clubs, churches, etc.	Toy drives Food drives On-site volunteering
Angel Tree (Specific type of toy drive where toys are purchased for certain ages and genders)	Businesses, churches and individuals	Businesses and churches can host an Angel Tree on their site. Individuals can choose a tag and purchase gifts.
Adopt-A-Family This program is no longer accepting new groups for 2009. (Groups and companies can purchase gifts for a specific family)	Families, businesses, clubs, churches, organizations	Anyone with the means to do so can adopt a family in need at Christmas. They will receive a wish list from the family. This program is no longer accepting new groups for 2009.

Christmas Cheer

The Christmas Cheer program is a food and toy distribution program where families receive a Christmas Dinner food box which includes a chicken, stuffing, potatoes, apples, corn, milk, butter, yams, applesauce and cookies. It also includes a toy for every child under the age of 13. In 2007, The Salvation Army collected 5,901 new toys and assisted 6,325 families through our Adopt-a-Family and Christmas Cheer programs..

Please mark your calendar for 2010. Registration is always the first full week before Thanksgiving and the first full week after Thanksgiving.

Angel Tree

What is the Angel Tree Toy Drive?

Each year, thanks to the generosity of Franklin County businesses, corporations, employees and churches, The Salvation Army is able to collect thousands of new toys and gifts for children in Franklin County. These toys are then distributed to children through The Salvation Army’s annual Christmas Cheer program.

How does this toy drive work?

You and your group fill out the application below.
This will provide us with all necessary information for participation. You will receive requests for toys for certain genders and ages, either in a list or on tags. You then distribute these among your group and designate a date and place for them to return the new, unwrapped toys to you.

What happens to the gifts?

These gifts are given to those children in need who have been identified through our referral and sign-up process. All gifts should be new and unwrapped. You are encouraged to drop off your gifts at The Salvation Army at 966 East Main Street, December 7-11, between the hours of 8:30am and 5:00pm. If you have indicated on your application that you will need to have the toys picked up at your location, we will do our best to meet your date and time frame. The gifts should be ready for pick-up by a Salvation Army representative on or before December 11, 2008.

Q: "I just want a single tag to purchase something for a child, not a whole list."
A: Try one of our retail Angel Tree locations: Angel Trees are found at the following retail locations:

Click here

Volunteer your church or business

If your place of business or church would like to participate in the Angel Tree Program, please review the letter below, then fill out the application.

Download Angel Tree Flyer
Download Angel Tree Letter
Download Angel Tree Application (Complete form and fax or email to us)

Adopt-A-Family

The Adopt-a-Family program is full for 2009. Thank you for the amazing outpouring of community support! Please mark your calendars for early November 2010, when we will be restarting this program and forms will be available on the Web. Thank you!

The Salvation Army serves people in need without discrimination. By putting money to maximum use, The Army provides services, programs and ministries that produce measurable, life-enhancing results.