Waterville - It's not unusual to see Cristen Sawyer and her faithful volunteers hard at work this time of year.

After all, for those involved in the Christmas Program at the Maine Children's Home for Little Wanderers in Waterville, this is crunch time. "We typically help around 1600 children give or take a few," Sawyer said Wednesday.

What is unusual is the number of empty boxes on the donation shelves, and boxes destined for families in need which are a few items short of being complete. "Particularly things like the warm winter outfits and Thinsulate gloves. Two of the things we struggle with. We try to give everybody a warm outfit of clothing."

It isn't just an economy struggling to get back on it's feet that's causing these shortages. Mother nature has also had an impact, particularly Hurricane Sandy. "We had a couple of relationships that we had established with some resources for clothing and toys that are located in the New York and New Jersey area. So they were not only affected physically, but they've also had to pool their resources into their own areas," Sawyer said.

Leaving the folks at the Maine Children's Home For Little Wanderers understandably short of items they had counted on. Tops on their list of needs:

* Complete outfits for kids sizes 5-18
* Thinsulate lined gloves or mittens
* Lego sets for ages 6-12

Now in her 10th year running the program, Sawyer has little doubt all the kids who have asked for their help will be smiling while opening their gifts on Christmas morning. "I am always confident it will come," Sawyer said. "It's been very slow to come this year. Very slow to get started with the donations. Like I said we've been packing since October. To get these boxes continually packed and to keep the process continually moving so that we can be finished in time for distribution we need a constant flow of donations."

For a complete list of needs:
http://www.mainechildrenshome.org/christmas-program.php

For more information about the program you can call 872-0261

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