Operation Xmas

 McClain County Operation Christmas recipients will pick up Christmas gifts and food baskets Friday at the Multi-Purpose Building.

The distribution is something volunteers handle for the charitable organization every year.

But the controlled pandemonium of getting Christmas out the door will be absent this year.

“We have called each family and tried to give them a time to come,” said chief elf Peggy Christian.

The aim is to avoid lines.

The strict schedule is in response to the ongoing pandemic and rising numbers of new COVID-19 cases in the county.

There are other new rules in place in addition to arriving at the appointed time.

Recipients are required to wear a mask that covers their nose and mouth.

Food baskets will include a ham, bread and a dozen other food items.

“It should be enough, we hope, for a week,” Christian said.

The food baskets have been a particular challenge this year because of school closings.

The schools have traditionally been the main collection points for food donations.

With in-person learning on and off, many parents have enrolled their children in virtual schools like Epic.

“There’s no way to contact those people,” Christian said.  “We’ve got to do better (contacting people).”

Though final numbers haven’t been compiled for this year’s Operation Christmas, Christian said applications were “way down” compared to past years.

“It’s been a very unusual year,” she added.