By Carol Britton Meyer

While the holidays are typically a happy time of year, full of celebrations, goodwill, and cheer, assistance is available in the close-knit Hull community for those who are struggling to put food on their tables and pay their utility bills, let alone finding the means to buy gifts for their children and creating a festive atmosphere.

Many Hull residents are donating gifts to the Hull Fire Department/Wellspring Multi-Service Center Toy Drive, the Campbell Christmas Angels program, and to Holiday Gifts for Veterans 2022, while the Council on Aging is supporting older adults in Hull in various ways in the spirit of the holidays. (See related story.)

Families who would like to request toys for their children through the fire department toy drive should sign up through Wellspring, according to Program Coordinator Jane Walsh.

“Wellspring assigns families a number, and they will be able to pick up their gifts at the fire station on Dec. 16 and 17,” she said.

This holiday gift program is open to all children under 18 in Hull. “In partnership with the HFD, we ask families what is wanted and what is needed,” Wellspring President & CEO Vinny Harte told The Hull Times. “Everyone gets the needed hats, gloves, socks, and other items, and then we match donors to the wanted items. Gifts for teens usually include gift cards that allow them to shop and choose for themselves.”

Wellspring’s food pantry, Aunt Dot’s Kitchen, will provide food for holiday meals, including a ham or a turkey, during the week before Christmas.

The pantry is open Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 9:30 a.m. for any Hull resident in need. “With the cost of food skyrocketing, we are seeing more families who are just trying to make ends meet,” Harte said. Wellspring provides assistance with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP – formerly known as food stamps) applications as requested.

Transportation to the pantry is available on Mondays. Clients are picked up at their homes and returned once they have collected their food. Delivery of food is available on Fridays for those unable to go there in person.

“For people looking to share their kindness during the holiday season, donations of food, dollars, or gift cards will be put to immediate use and will provide joy and happiness to a neighbor in Hull,” Harte said

For more information about these programs, call Pat Martin, who helps clients get the help they need, at 781-925-3211, ext. 112.

Campbell Christmas Angels founder Laurie Good knows what it’s like to be in dire straits during the holidays.

“I was at one time living in a motel with my kids [for an extended period of time], including on Christmas,” she recalled. “No child should be left out because of the circumstances they live in or feel as though they have been forgotten. Kids are aware that Santa is coming – that’s what kids look forward to and think about when they hear his name – and we want them to have a nice Christmas.”

Quite a few requests have already come in. Good notes that proof of guardianship is required before gifts can be given to families.

While there is no deadline for Christmas Angels requests, the sooner the better for planning purposes. An example of a last-minute need is someone who has just taken in a foster child, Good explained.

Parents and guardians can shop at the Kenberma location as they would in a regular store. Everything is new, from the toys to the beds in a bag, pajamas, and winter jackets that each school child up to age 17 receives.

For more information, including making a request for gifts, visit www.campbellchristmasangels.org.

Holiday Gifts for Veterans 2022 benefits men and women veterans at the Brockton Veterans Administration Medical Center, and also Hull veterans. Contact Craig Wolfe, 781-771-6416 for more information.

As a show of respect for Hull veterans, decorated wreaths will be placed in the Hull cemetery, at the Hull Lifesaving Museum, the war memorial, and other locations around town for the holidays, working in partnership with the Hull Garden Club, Wolfe said.

Looking beyond the holidays to the new year, free food is available for pickup for veterans, family, friends, and the general public through the Veterans Voice and WATD/WMEX drive-through program at the WATD studios, 130 Enterprise Drive, Marshfield, on the second Thursday of every month from 12 to 1 p.m. No registration is necessary. For more information, contact Wolfe at the number above or at 89edge@comcast.net.

For those struggling to keep warm, help with filling out fuel assistance applications is available at the Anne M. Scully Senior Center and at Wellspring.