Volunteers ready to help people navigate paperwork and get to the Christmas Bureau toy room

Mary Lawson was already upset when she arrived at the Christmas Bureau first thing Monday morning to find toys for her four children, ages 2, 4, 6 and 8. Then she learned there was a problem with her paperwork and feared she would be turned away with nothing.

“I was about to cry,” she said.

But a volunteer helped her fix the problem and she was soon in the toy room.

She was upset when she arrived because she realized she would have to return the gifts she had bought her children in order to put gas in her vehicle so she could get to work.

“I usually get them one each, but I have to take them back because I can’t afford them,” she said.

The Christmas Bureau exists to help people like Lawson, a single mother, who need a little help to provide a Christmas celebration for their children. Each family receives a grocery store voucher and a toy and a book for each child. The effort is a collaboration between Catholic Charities, Volunteers of America and The Spokesman-Review.

Jessica Griffin, also a single parent, came to the Bureau on Monday to look for gifts for her three children and a niece that is staying with her. She just returned to Spokane from California, where she had lived for several years.

Griffin said her children would not have had much of a Christmas celebration if it wasn’t for the Bureau.

“I don’t have any income right now,” she said. “My job doesn’t start until Jan. 3.”

Her 11-year-old daughter was hoping for skates for Christmas, so Griffin was in search of a pair.

“I think it’s great that they have things like this for people that struggle,” she said.

As people worked to select toys for their children, more were coming in the back door. The Spokane Chiefs dropped off the 5,175 stuffed animals collected during their annual Teddy Bear Toss night on Saturday. It may be called the Teddy Bear Toss, but there was a wide variety of animals, including stuffed dinosaurs, chickens, elephants, dogs and unicorns.

The stuffed animals left the Spokane Arena at 10 a.m. Monday and by 11 a.m. boxes of them were on the floor, ready to be taken home to boys and girls in need of soft, fuzzy hug.

DonationsThe Christmas Bureau is funded entirely by community donations. New donations of $5,620 have brought the year-to-date total to $130,442.10. The goal is to raise $535,000.

An anonymous Spokane donor sent $1,500. T.G. Schemmel, of Spokane, donated $1,000. An anonymous Spokane donor gave $1,000.

Gerard Fischer, of Spokane, contributed $500.

Tim and Darlene Holliday, of Spokane, gave $300. “We want to donate this money in memory of our son, Russell “Air Hoss” Holliday,” they wrote. “We believe the Christmas Fund helps people looking for a little hope at this time of the year. When we were in good health, we volunteered for five years and we always came away with our spirits lifted. God bless.”

Nancy and Scott Stowell, of Spokane, donated $250. Colleen Birchill, of Spokane, gave $200. Ron Collins, of Pullman, sent $150.

John and Dolores Skelton, of Spokane, donated $100. Phillip Au, of Liberty Lake, gave $100. Ed G. donated $100. Joe and Becky Kramarz, of Spokane, sent $100. John and Sharon Sutten, of Spokane, contributed $100.

Mary Brown, of Spokane, donated $50. Rocky and Bonnie Elliott, of Spokane, gave $50. An anonymous Spokane donor gave $50 in honor of Tony Wadden and Becky Nappi, writing “Thank you for all your good work.”

An anonymous Spokane donor sent $30. Cheri Morrissey, of Spokane, donated $25. An anonymous Spokane donor gave $25.