Christmas: A time for Caring and Sharing

Submitted by Christina Collier

     For as long as I can remember, Christmas has always been a time for showing how much we care about one another and share what we have with the less fortunate. Benkelman residents have been very blessed with the Caring/Sharing Tree for many, many years, currently sponsored by the PinC Ladies. The Caring/Sharing Tree is completely anonymous for both the recipients and those with the ability to share. The tree is meant to be assistance for families/individuals in Dundy County and/or any DCS school students and their families. For the 2019 Christmas season, there are currently over 50 children signed up for gift assistance and over 20 families that have been signed up for food baskets.
If you or someone you know are able to share with area families, please come down to Lincoln Federal Savings Bank during business hours to inquire how your assistance could be utilized. To explain how the tree works: families submit information about their child or children. To help with gifts, patrons select card(s) from the tree. The cards contain a child’s information such as age, clothing sizes, toy ideas, and other things the child likes. The amount the patron gives is completely up to them, some give one or two gifts and others give everything on the list. This is where the monetary donations come in to help. The PinC Ladies fill in gifts as needed so that children in the same family receive approximately the same amount of gifts. If a patron is interested in helping with food baskets, they can pick up a family’s card and either supply a food basket or a gift certificate to Grace Market. All gifts and food baskets are then returned to Lincoln Federal Savings Bank for the elves to wrap and distribute to the families in need.
If shopping doesn’t appeal to someone who would like to give, the PinC Ladies always appreciate monetary donations to help fill in the blanks. The elves sure do use a lot of wrapping supplies, donations for them are appreciated as well (wrapping paper, tape, gift boxes, etc.) If you or someone you know are able to share to make another family’s Christmas brighter, please come down to Lincoln Federal Savings Bank and let us help you select a child/children or family to help out. If you and/or your family need assistance this Christmas, please come down to Lincoln Federal Savings Bank or call (308)423-5550.