This Sunday, Dec. 3, as many as 1,000 children in Boone County received new, wrapped toys for Christmas, thanks to the Secret Santa program, the Boone County Community Organization and a host of volunteers.

"Secret Santa provides toys to low-income children in Boone County," said Ruth Scott, Director of the BCCO. "It takes a lot of effort and a lot of help from volunteers to make it possible."

Secret Santa is an income based program, with applications taken at the BCCO office between the Tuesday after Labor Day and Nov. 15.

"Applications are screened in our office and sent daily to the Christmas Bureau in Charleston, which works with the Secret Santa Foundation," Scott explained.

The needy children are then adopted by individuals and organizations, who spend anywhere from $50 to $100 on the children that range in age from birth to 12 years old.

The gifts include not only toys, but also clothing, books and once a crib, according to Scott.

Parents are sent a form on which they put what they think the kids want for Christmas and the sponsors buy the items on the list.

Cathy Carney of the BCCO goes through many of the applications sent in each year, to verify income and determine if a family meets the criteria to get help from the program.

"We have a list of income guidelines that all the agencies follow," Carney explained. "For example, if a family gets food stamps, they are automatically qualified."

The income scale is based on a family's net income, taking into consideration what goes out of the home for car payments, mortgage, rent, insurance and other family expenses.

"We also consider the size of the family," Carney said. "Everyone has a different situation."

When the presents are bought and collected, they are sent to the Madison Civic Center where a group of eager volunteers helps to unload the trucks.

"We got more this year than we have ever had before," Carney said. "People have been very generous."

One woman was overcome when she received six bags of toys and four bicycles for her children, according to Carney.

"It brought tears to our eyes," Carney said. "That's what Christmas is all about."

Distributing the toys is made possible by the many volunteers who come to help unload the trucks, gather and organize the gifts for each family and distribute them.

"We are very thankful to the volunteers," Scott said. "This wouldn't be possible without the hard work of many people."

Volunteers come from many local organizations including the Madison-Danville Jaycees, the Daniel Boone VFW Post 5528, local Boy and Girl Scout troups, the National Honor Society and many others including church youth groups.

"We were happy to see so many young people helping out as well," Scott added.

With the hard work of the BCCO and volunteers and the generosity of those who supply the toys, Christmas is happier for disadvantaged children in Boone County.