In December 1990, My Brother’s Keeper kicked off its Christmas Helpline Program, providing 14 families with gifts, according to Paul Key, chief development officer.

And last year, the organization delivered gifts to 3,150 families across more than 100 communities, Key said. This, of course, left their inventory “very much depleted” for the Christmas Program.

So this year, Christmas has begun a little early. My Brother’s Keeper completed its first Christmas and July Program, collecting a total of 860 gifts, with a retail value of approximately $19,000, according to Key. 

My Brother’s Keeper is a Dartmouth-based Christian ministry located at 1015 Reed Road that delivers donated furniture, food and gifts to local families in need.

“We weren't sure what to expect and we were so grateful that our community came together really and helped us,” Key said.

He highlighted the growing need for this program, with the registration for local families opening as early as August.

The gifts collected in July will be delivered to families during its usual program in December, Key said. But not before the items are selected and wrapped for each individual family, including the parents.

In November, community members will be invited to register to volunteer at either of the organization’s facilities, in Easton and Dartmouth, to help with the wrapping, Key said.

Volunteers will select specific gifts for families from the warehouse inventory and put it all together at one of the facility’s wrapping stations, he added.

“It's a great opportunity if anyone wants to come either as a family or as a work group or a church group to come in during the month of December to help us wrap gifts [and] to deliver gifts,” Key said.

Key emphasized how much the organization appreciates the help of the community who has been “so unbelievably generous” this past July.

He said doing this work is important for “many reasons,” but “the most important reason is with inflation and the financial issues that so many families are facing right now.”

While delivering food and groceries to community members throughout the year, Key said he hears of families who are having to choose between paying their electric bill and putting food on the table.

“For a lot of families, providing Christmas gifts for their kids is just not even an option,” he said, adding how being able to provide some relief to that stress is a “huge benefit” to doing this work. 

But he said it’s only been possible through the generosity of the community who donates their time, money and gifts to families in need. 

“We just really want to make sure we extend our gratitude to everyone who contributed to this initiative,” Key said.