For decades, the Montgomery Christmas Committee has been bringing Christmas cheer to town residents in the form of Christmas Dinner boxes and toys for children.

Founded years ago by Erma Emory, it was run for many years by the late Nancy Gruver, according to a Luminary article from January 4, 2022. After Nancy’s passing, her daughter Jodi Gruver Ellis became the co-chair of the committee with Virginia Hill.

Anyone who lives in the Montgomery Area School District that needs a little bit of help to make Christmas happen is welcome to sign up on the committee’s list. Any household can request a Christmas Dinner Box, households that have children from birth to 18 can request gifts for them.

The list doesn’t carry over from one year to the next, so residents need to be sure to sign up if they would like to get dinner boxes and/or children’s gifts for this year.

The Christmas Dinner boxes will have a ham or turkey (depending on the size of the household), and everything needed for a complete Christmas dinner. They even include cookies and candy. According to Ellis, the boxes this year will be featuring easier to prepare items.

Toys for Tots boxes have gone out and all donations of toys and teen gifts can be made in any Toys for Tots box within the Montgomery Area School District. All toys and teen gifts placed in a Toys for Tots box in the Montgomery Area School District will go to youths who live in the district. The boxes can be found in the following locations in and around Montgomery Borough: Surplus Outlet, Dollar General, Clinton Township Office, Muncy Bank & Trust, Thad’s Place, The Montgomery Area Historical Society’s Adam Room Museum, The Montgomery Area Public Library, Coles Coffee & Cafe, Montgomery Borough Office, Valley Rehabilitation, Montgomery Post Office, Station House, American Legion Post #251, Jersey Shore Bank, Springs Window Fashions, VT Hackney, Koppers, and Amazon.

Donations of batteries, paper, and Scotch tape can also go in the Toys for Tots boxes. Anyone who donates a toy that requires batteries is asked to include batteries.

The committee also needs monetary donations which are mostly used to buy groceries for the dinner boxes, and to buy gifts as needed. Checks can be written out to the Montgomery Christmas Committee and mailed to:

Virginia Hill, 133 Hill’s Lane, Montgomery, PA 17752.

The Christmas Committee is declining donations of clothing, because they don’t collect sizes. While some churches have baskets for food items to be donated for the dinner boxes, the committee is requesting that food be within the expiration date.

The Montgomery Christmas Committee is entirely run by volunteers and there are no administrative costs. Volunteers as well as different organizations around town come together to help the committee wrap gifts, pack boxes, and make deliveries. The Montgomery Emergency Management Agency, the Montgomery Volunteer Fire Company, and the Clinton Township Fire Company help with use of their vehicles to make deliveries. Altogether, the committee needs about one hundred volunteers each year to complete their wonderful work.

The list opens up on Friday, November 24, 2023. Please include a name and address for a Christmas Dinner Box. If gifts are needed for children (ages newborn through 18), please include the age and gender of each one. Sign up by contacting Jodi Gruver Ellis at (717) 943-6712 or by a private Facebook message, or Virginia Hill at (570) 547-1254.

The distribution is traditionally on Christmas Eve morning, but this year it will be on Saturday, Dec. 23.