It's that time of year again – the giving time.

And once again the Boothbay Region YMCA is doing its part to ensure that area children have a happy, festive Christmas.

The YMCA Tree of Giving has become an annual event to lend a helping hand to families in need in the community.

With the YMCA's Logahn Walker, youth and membership coordinator and Lura Raymond, membership director, leading up the cause, several local organizations and citizens are stepping up to the plate and helping to get the message out there.

The Tree of Giving has been helping families for several years now. “It is for families on the peninsula in need during the holiday season,” Walker said.

The process begins with a family member filling out an application supplied by the YMCA. Each child in the family will receive four “ornaments” to write on – two for needed gifts and two for wanted gifts. The ornaments will then be hung on a Christmas tree in the lobby at the Y; people may go and take an ornament, buy the specified gift, wrap it, and take it back to the YMCA.

“There are numerous businesses in the area that will come in and take 50 ornaments,” Walker said. “Some will take 75, and some come in and want five or six families.” This year the “ornaments” will be in the shape of mittens. The information will include the child's age and sex.

As of Tuesday, Nov. 24, 12 applications had been filled out and returned. The deadline for applications is Dec. 1.

“Logahn has done a great job reaching out to many community connectors,” Raymond said. “We've been working closely with the schools, the town offices, churches and community navigator, reaching out to a lot of groups who may have connections with different people who want to be involved and people who want to take advantage of the program. We're really excited. The community has been coming together in an incredible way.”

Because Walker and Raymond are both relatively new to the YMCA and the region, they said they're slowly getting to know which organizations to reach out to.

“We're positioned, as a central location, to really connect with people coming through our doors,” Raymond said. “It's really neat to work on this project with the other organizations on this peninsula. It's a great opportunity to meet people and it's definitely a community effort.”

The Tree of Giving will be up in the lobby at the YMCA by around Nov. 30. Keep the spirit of giving alive this holiday season by going to the Y and taking an ornament or two (or more!) off the tree. Help some local children, and their parents, to have a happy Christmas morning.

For questions, email Walker at lwalker@brymca.org, or call 207-633-2855 and ask for Logahn.

Other people and groups involved in the Tree of Giving project are: Sarah Foulger: sarahfoulger@myfairpoint.net; Kim Dionne: kdionne@csd3-bres.org; Tracey Hyson: treasurer@townofboothbay.org; and Leslie Cook: cook2401@roadrunner.com.