VOLUNTEER HELPS FILL SALVATION ARMY SANTA SACK

The bag was black plastic instead of red velvet and Santa's helper was dressed in a gray sweatshirt and black jeans, but there was definitely a feeling of Christmas giving at the Salvation Army on Thursday.

Food and toys began being distributed to needy families at 8 a.m. and continued until late in the afternoon as hundreds of people, bundled against the cold, filled the gym of the Salvation Army for its annual Christmas basket give-away.

Pat Hale was the volunteer in charge of the toy room, where dolls and stuffed animals lined the floor and toys, divided by age group, filled shelves. She was busy filling the wish lists of those who hadn't registered for the Toybox program, which earlier this month distributed toys to needy children.

As parents told her the names and ages of their children, she helped them select appropriate toys and put them in black plastic bags that served as Santa sacks.

"I'm here because I love doing this," Hale said as she picked out a Winnie the Pooh toy for a 1-year-old boy.

Her brother-in-law Ray Hale was helping out with the food give-away. The Salvation Army calls this its food basket distribution, but don't look for small wicker containers here. Qualified recipients, who must register beforehand, are loaded up with boxes of canned and dry goods, bags of apples, slabs of ground beef and whole turkeys based on their needs and family members. Salvation Army Maj. Robert Gauthier said 866 families had registered. After those requests are filled, he expected to fill requests for about 134 more families who had not registered.

Ray Hale was helping recipients get their boxes and bags to waiting vehicles.

Ray Hale works at Thorngate Ltd. He arrived at the Salvation Army building at 7:30 Thursday morning, would go to his job after helping most of the day with the food baskets and work at Thorngate until midnight.

When asked why he was putting in such a long day, Ray shrugged. "It's for Christmas," he said. "A lot of kids are going to be happy because of what we are doing here today."

Cindy Richards was helping distribute apples from the 850 cases that Pioneer Orchards had donated. Richards is with the Cape Girardeau Probation and Parole Department. She said this is the second year that employees there have volunteered their time to the Salvation Army effort.

"We wanted to help out in the community," she said. "In our jobs, we see the different areas of town and realize the needs out there."

As a Christmas bonus this morning, members of the Cape Girardeau Police Officers Association showed up with 110 turkeys and hams. The Association's efforts were aided by donations from Wal-Mart Super Center, McDonald's, New York Life agent Eric Marquart, Prudential Bridgeport Ind. Realtors, Allstate Insurance agent J.J. Williamson sand Freddie Ford.

"We like to support the Salvation Army because they support us," said Bill Bohnert, an association member who was helping association president Curtis Sessions with the give-away.

Gauthier said about 80 volunteers helped with the food give-away, some packing boxes Wednesday night and others helping distribute them on Thursday.

Many others have helped monetarily, including all those people who have donated money to the Salvation Army through its kettle drive and with mailed-in donations.

While the Salvation Army's 1999 Christmas campaign had lagged behind last year's totals since it began Nov. 12, Gauthier said an increased number of donations in the last week put the campaign back on track.

"We've reached about 74 percent of our goal of $220,000," Gauthier said, noting that's about where the campaign was at this time last year. "I feel confident now that we will make that goal, though it probably will be after Christmas."

He said this has been a good week for kettle donations and Christmas Eve is generally a big day for the kettles. Plus many people have sent generous donations through the mail.

"The people of the Cape Girardeau area have always supported the Salvation Army," Gauthier said.