A Brockville ‘Secret Santa’ needs some help

A Brockville woman is getting into the holiday spirit with her “Secret Santa” campaign, but she needs some help.

Marcia Church is looking for donations as Christmas gets ever closer.

“I’m actually doing this because Christmas was Mom’s favourite holiday, and January will be a year since she passed,” Church said of her mother, Karen Massey. “My mom was known for helping people, anyone she could, she would help.”

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And that trait has been passed down to her daughter.

“Right now we’ve helped 10 families, 18 children that the gifts that we have here today, the ones that are being picked up, and I have seven families on the waitlist with 15 children total, and the names are still coming in.”

Melissa Anderson has benefited from Church’s “Secret Santa” undertaking.

“When I saw that Marcia was helping local families, I really wanted to be able to help her do that, unfortunately, it ended up that I was one of the families that she ended up helping,” Anderson said.

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Anderson says of it wasn’t for Church and her campaign, she’d probably still be stressing out. The money for some gifts comes out-of-pocket while donations have come from others.

Church says there’s still plenty on her wishlist.

“We need stuff for teens, make-up kits, gift cards, toiletry kits, clothing, anything that’s geared towards teens. I also have some more children on my list, boys and girls from the age of 7 to 11 — that are in need.”

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Donations are being coordinated through Church’s Facebook page.