St. Tammany Project Christmas Gives Back to the Community

You could call them St. Tammany “elves,” those are the volunteers who dedicate their time and skills at this time every year to make sure that families in need in St. Tammany Parish have both food and gifts to give their kids for Christmas.  The organization is called St. Tammany Project Christmas, and its purpose it to provide toys and a Christmas feast to 1,650 children, 30 senior citizens, and 650 families on the North Shore.

A vetting process is in place to make sure that the families that are being provided for are qualified to receive the gifts. The volunteers are employed to put together gift baskets filled with non-perishable

food and vouchers for the Christmas meat selected by each family.  They also help with assembling gifts, including bicycles, to be given as gifts for the kids. Sometimes, there will be as many as 300 bikes to make sure they are in working order.

The centers and distribution sites where this project is conducted is located in Mandeville, Madisonville, and Slidell, Louisiana.

“The absolute worst thing that could happen would be for a child to be forgotten,” said Penny Weaver, who has been volunteering for the past six years.

The gifts and gift baskets are distributed all at once on what is known as Distribution Day, which is Saturday, December 16th. Volunteers of Project Christmas have been donating their time and efforts for years – one volunteer has been doing it for 11 years.  This year’s officers include Mike Callaway, vice president; C.J. Giffin, treasurer; Suzanne Switzer, secretary; and Rene Arsenault, Jewell Bayhi, Margaret Diaz, Elizabeth Lamulle, Wendy Norlin and Rick VanArsdale.

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