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For families in need, Project Merry Christmas brings joy to holiday

It’s a quiet November morning in downtown Durango, but in the office of Project Merry Christmas, the pre-holiday bustle has already begun.

Started in 1985 by volunteers who wanted to help feed needy Medicaid recipients, Project Merry Christmas has grown into an annual program that provides food and presents for the holidays to La Plata County’s families, seniors or anyone else who needs a hand.

Helping hundreds of families

Susie Patalan, longtime Project Merry Christmas volunteer and board member, said the number of families and seniors the program helps is fairly consistent from year to year.

“We get upwards of 500, from families and seniors,” she said. “We’re already at 260 (on Nov. 19). We’re usually right around 500, 525 average. ... That’s not 500 people ... maybe two-thirds of them are families, which have anywhere from one to six kids.”

Patalan, who is the Angel coordinator for the program – she makes sure that the children’s clothing requests are met – also takes the applications families and individuals must submit to participate.

“We try and make the application simple,” she said. “If people have school-age children, they can pick up the applications at the schools.”

If they don’t, the Headstart or human services offices have them. And senior citizens are able to find applications at senior centers.

Counting on help

Stephanie Carbajal, 27, is a second-generation Durangoan raising her 6-year-old daughter, Priscilla, as a single mom.

“I got married right after high school, and I had my daughter right away,” Carbajal said. “I didn’t even go to college. I got married young.”

This is her second year using Project Merry Christmas, and the help couldn’t come at a better time.

“I don’t have a job right now, I just help my family out,” she said. “It’s been so hard. ... I’m just trying to make it on my own now, trying to figure it out. And do what I can to live.”

Patalan said requesting help from the program more than one time isn’t unusual – if the need is still there from year to year, people are permitted to reapply.

“A high percentage of our people use the service every year,” she said. “This is what they count on to do Christmas for their family.”

And this year, Carbajal is counting on it.

“It’s a really great program, especially if you’re having a hard time and you’re not able to give your child what she wants,” she said. “I’m so grateful for it; I’m glad it exists.”

Helping seniors

Edward Pretzer, 66, originally from Scottsdale, Arizona, is a longtime Durango-area resident.

“I came up here in ’81 and worked at Purgatory,” he said. “I retired when I was 63, and moved to Durango in November 2013.”

Living on a fixed income, this is Pretzer’s third time getting help from the nonprofit.

“Project Merry Christmas has been extremely beneficial,” he said. “It’s very, very important to me this year. I’ll get a food box ... they’ll give me some gloves, and I made a list of stuff I want.”

And, as a senior, he’s not alone.

“I know a bunch of people in their 60s and 70s and 80s who are going to benefit,” he said.

And, Pretzer said, the spirit and kindness of the volunteers are what help make Project Merry Christmas stand out.

“They are a wonderful resource, they’re a great group of people,” he said. “They’re like Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus when they bring your box. They don’t throw the box and go, ‘Here you go, here are your groceries, you poor son of a gun.’ (They say) ‘Here, Merry Christmas.’ And that’s the way it should be.”

The busy season

With volunteers numbering between 50 and 60, Project Merry Christmas’ season is about to kick into overdrive.

On Friday, the Angel Tree will go up in the Durango Mall and the Wrapping Booth will open as well.

People are invited to select a card from the tree, purchase the requested items and bring them to the Wrapping Booth. The volunteers will take it from there.

Also, the program is accepting food items and monetary donations at the mall.

The community’s generous spirit of giving keeps Project Merry Christmas going and able to help people who need a boost during the holidays.

“It’s just incredible,” Patalan said. “Consistently, every year, the community provides us with the money we need to do food certificates, with donation of food items so we can deliver food boxes, and they shop for all the clothes, they adopt families ... the community has never not come through.”

katie@durangoherald.com

How You can help

If you’d like to spread a little holiday cheer this season by helping a family or senior, Project Merry Christmas needs you.

At the Angel Tree in the Durango Mall, you can pick a card and purchase the items listed on it. These gifts can be dropped off at the Wrapping Booth, where volunteers will get them ready to deliver.

To kick off the donations, Angel Tree and the Wrapping Booth will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday at the Durango Mall between Rue 21 and Zumiez. Items purchased from the tree are due to the Wrapping Booth by Dec. 14. The Wrapping Booth will be open to accept donations through Dec. 24.

For more information about operating hours at Angel Tree and the Wrapping Booth, visit www.projectmerrychristmas.com.

People can also donate clothes, food, money and more at several blanket drives: 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, Kroegers Ace Hardware, 8 Town Plaza; 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Dec. 5, Alpine Bank, 1099 Main Ave.; and 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Dec. 12, La Plata Electric Association, 45 Stewart.

For more information, call Project Merry Christmas at 247-2944.

Nov 25, 2015
Coats and blankets to benefit Durango Community Shelter, Southwest Safehouse


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