On one end of the Dartmouth Mall, Santa took photos with all the good children while, on the other end, volunteers from The Women’s Center were hard at work wrapping gifts for Christmas.

This marks the 14^th year that The Women’s Center, a domestic violence and sexual assault crisis center, has come to Dartmouth Mall to wrap gifts for mall-goers. From Dec. 5 through Dec. 25, anyone could bring packages to be wrapped for a small fee, whether their purchases were made at the mall or not.

“The Dartmouth Mall is very supportive. They put us on their website. They donate the space for us,” said Women’s Center Development Director Rebecca McCullough.

McCullough, who’s been with the center for nine years, took over the program three years ago after Silvia Gregory established it with the help of the Foresters, an international service group that does projects to help non-profits.

With the help of volunteers Sabrina Blouin and Jessica Harnden, their set-up near the main entrance was attracting traffic.

All proceeds from gift wrapping goes toward the center and its various programs and shelters. Dr. Bob Baarsvik and Baarsvik Orthodontics are the event sponsors, and they provide the center with all the gift wrap and ribbons.

“Every dollar we raise here at Christmas goes directly to programs and services for women and children at the Women’s Center and our [three] shelters and our bought houses and the people that come in for counseling,” McCullough said.

Though some days proved to be busier than others, McCullough was especially impressed with the weekend turnout. Even as more people came to have their gifts packaged, many others provided donations on top of their wrapping costs and more still who donate without stopping to have anything wrapped.

One generous mall-goer even donated a $50 bill without having anything wrapped, McCullough said.

“It’s a good way for us to not only be out in the community, but also for others to support the Women’s Center, especially men because men are probably our biggest customers,” McCullough said. “I was very overwhelmed and impressed by the number of people in our community that support The Women’s Center all year round.”

While running the table, it wasn’t at all unusual for McCullough to be approached by someone whose life was touched by the center.

Though The Women’s Center is based in New Bedford, their services, which are free and confidential, are available to anyone in the South Coast area.

“It’s a great place, we help a lot of people. We’ve had a lot of success stories,” McCullough said. “We do make a difference. And when people give to the Women’s Center, they don’t just change someone’s life or help them, they often are saving someone’s life.”

The Women's Center is located at 405 County St. in New Bedford. They can be reached at 508-996-3343.