The 25th annual Citizens for Citizens, Inc. (CFC) Operation Christmas Telethon was held at the New Harbor Mall in Fall River on December 2 through December 4. Operation Christmas purchases and distributes new toys to families in the Greater Fall River area in order to ensure that even families struggling with poverty are able to provide gifts from Santa Claus for their children on Christmas Day.

Barbara Travis, the long-time CFC Director of Operation Christmas, was present during the broadcast of the Telethon, overseeing the hard-working volunteer staff and greeting local dignitaries who lent their support and encouragement to this worthy endeavor.

Many of the same volunteers participate every year, helping in any way they can, be it answering the phones to record bids on auction items or bringing the bids to volunteers who change the prices for auctioned items on the “big” board. Other volunteers record the winning bids and ensure that the identity of each auction winner is verified. Students from the B.M.C. Durfee High School FRED TV Program broadcast the entire three days of telethon activities to cable Channel 17 in Fall River Channel 9 in Somerset and Channel 98 on Swansea public access cable channels also carried the live feed from FRED TV.

Fall River Mayor William Flanagan and State Senator Michael Rodrigues made an appearance at the Telethon headquarters to encourage bidding on the items donated by local businesses, charitable groups, and Operation Christmas individual supporters, along with other city and state officials lending their enthusiastic in-person support to the event.

Items available to this year’s auction bidders included two Amazon Kindles, Boston Celtics tickets, flat screen TV’s,  and many other electronic items.

Not only were there many useful and interesting items being auctioned off during the Telethon, but there was also seasonal entertainment being provided by area youth singing groups, and musicians playing live music for the crowds of shoppers at the New Harbor Mall. Area restaurants provided a delicious bounty of food and beverages for the volunteers.

A group of local Morton Middle School students are learning in a hands-on fashion about helping families that are suffering from economic hard times in their own city.

The CFC Food Pantry recently received donations of both food and money from the Fall River Morton Middle School’s Comets Care community service group.Comets Care is an after-school club for 8th grade students that focuses on involvement in the local community, under the leadership of Morton Principal Sheila Fisher and teachers Kathy Kelly, Chris Blanchette, Jennifer Brakefield,Dawn Farinha,Karen Ouellette and Audrey Viera.

The students in the Comets Care club found several inventive ways to help the Citizens for Citizens, Inc. Food Pantry in its mission of providing bags of healthy food to low-income families and individuals on a monthly basis. The 8th grade students in Comets Care held a bake sale during this fall’s parent-teacher conferences with a total of $300 in profits made to support the food distribution services of the CFC Food Pantry, along with  monies  raised by soliciting donations directly from Morton Middle School staff members

Citizens for Citizens, Inc. is very appreciative of the Food Pantry contributions made by the Comets Care club members. These youngsters are learning at an early age that it can be rewarding and satisfying to help others in need in their local community.

Turkeys, and all the other food items a family might need to prepare a Thanksgiving dinner, were distributed by CFC to 400 families on November 16, 2011. Once again, Citizens for Citizens, Inc. made it possible for local, low-income families to celebrate the upcoming holiday with a traditional Thanksgiving dinner in their homes.

Barbara Travis, CFC Community Organizer, and Chrystal Arpa, the diligent CFC Food Pantry Coordinator, orchestrated the distribution of the turkeys with a great deal of help from the youth members of the CFC Family Planning Program’s “Making Proud Choices” group.

During the day on November 16, the turkeys arrived by truck and were offloaded into the main hall of CFC’s Griffin Street headquarters, along with fresh vegetables, stuffing mix, and all the other items that make a Thanksgiving dinner delectable and memorable.

Barbara Travis began a long day’s work by making telephone calls to recipient households, informing them that the dinners would be ready for distribution at 5:00 P.M. A waiting line had started to form by 4:30 PM for the holiday dinner distribution, and it was 8:00 PM before the final turkey dinners were given out. Throughout the afternoon, Crystal Arpa, and any CFC staffer with a little spare time, helped arrange the turkey dinner items and packed them in bags for families to carry home for Thanksgiving Day.

The turkeys and other food provisions were provided by the Greater Boston Food Bank, along with generous donations from the Fall River area community.