Through the generosity of residents, The Newtown Fund Inc, a nonprofit group, was able to spread holiday cheer to 62 local families in need on Saturday, December 14, providing both Christmas gifts and practical items that will brighten the holiday season and make life simpler for recipients.

Newtown Fund President Linda Bates watched amid a flurry of activity at The Fraser Woods Montessori School on South Main Street where the group stages the large-scale holiday-giving program. The Newtown Fund started its local charitable work in 1959.

Through the program, the fortunate help the needy, anonymously providing holiday gifts for children and adults.

The recipient families benefited from carloads of donated gifts, including household items, delivered to their homes. The recipient families that are qualified to participate provide “wish lists” of the items they desire. Such lists are then given to families that have volunteered for the holiday giving program. The families that buy the gifts do not know the identities of those who receive the gifts.

On Depot Day, the donors leave their gifts at the school, where the gifts are wrapped and are then delivered to recipients.

During the event, local Boy Scouts pushed dollies loaded with gifts inside the school gymnasium and through corridors to a driveway where volunteers loaded vehicle after vehicle with hundreds of presents. Those vehicles then transported the items to recipients’ homes.

The core group of volunteers that runs Depot Day has been participating in the project for many years. Planning for the annual event begins each September.

Besides gifts, the Newtown Fund also accepts financial donations for the needy. The fund is a 501(c)(3) registered charity, which makes all donations tax deductible. The group’s website is thenewtownfund.org.