There are a few ways you can give back this holiday season in our community beyond just shopping local.
Foster Care Giving
New this year, the Montgomery Fire Department will be collecting toys, new children’s clothes, and/or monetary donations ahead of the Torchlight Parade & Fireworks on Thursday, Dec. 4 for Lutheran Social Services Foster Care.
Firefighters will be stationed on the east side of 1st Street and Vine Avenue, just north of Frandsen Bank & Trust, to collect from 6-6:30 p.m.
Santa Anonymous for Children
Santa Anonymous (SA) has been serving families in Le Sueur County since 1977, purchasing toys and gifts for the past 48 years for children ages newborn to 18 that live at home in Le Sueur County, according to Montgomery volunteer Rita Picha. Parents complete release forms from Le Sueur County Human Services, with parents making gift requests specifically for each of their children. Shoppers then do their best to fulfill those lists, Picha said.
It was 1994 when Picha started volunteering for SA. She was a member of the Montgomery Women of Today group, which had the county program as one of its service projects.
When the local women’s group folded, she continued to help with Santa Anonymous as the local coordinator, publicizing, collecting and handling donations, purchasing items with the funds, and obtaining other volunteers to help purchase gifts prior to distribution in mid-December. Volunteers from each community in the county do the same.
Picha credits her husband Steve, Most Holy Redeemer School coworkers, and super shoppers Shirley Pumper and Noelle Kalina with helping to lighten her shopping responsibilities the past few years. “I’m also extremely grateful to the Montgomery Cub and Boy Scouts which have been delivering the toys and gifts purchased to Le Center for distribution for many years,” Picha stated.
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Most Holy Redeemer Catholic School (MHRCS) students helped tie fleece blankets for SA on Friday, Nov. 14, in the school cafeteria during the school’s Family Fun Night. The blankets will be distributed to county families who are experiencing financial difficulty during the Christmas season. MHRCS participates annually in the Santa Anonymous program as a community service project. Some families donate money to the classroom and then the teacher shops, filling the wish lists of anonymous families. This year blanket tying was added.
Cash donations can be dropped off at CornerStone State Bank, and Frandsen Bank & Trust in Montgomery, and at First National Bank, and First State Bank in Le Center. Donations come from youth groups, 4-H, veterans and service organizations, social clubs, churches, school collections, local businesses, individuals and Operation Roundup. Donations received after distribution will be used for the 2026 holiday season.
This year’s drive-through distribution, which is held with the Adopt-A-Family program for a one-stop, central pickup, is Monday, Dec. 15, from 12-6 p.m. at St. Mary’s Church parking lot in Le Center. Each family is identified by a number rather than by name to remain anonymous.
Adopt-A-Family has been helping clothe children in Le Sueur County since 1989, and it is the 14th year that Adopt A Family and Santa Anonymous have been working together for the event.
Le Sueur SA said that the two groups helped 282 families in Le Sueur County with a total of 764 children at the distribution in 2024. This year they said they have 278 families to help serve.
Sharing Tree
Unlike the last two programs mentioned for giving, Montgomery’s Sharing Tree program helps spread holiday cheer to more than 100 of this community’s elderly and those living with a disability.
The program kicked off the holiday season last week after trees were set up at Aging Services for Communities (ASC), CornerStone State Bank, and the Happy Hour Bar & Grill.
Residents pick one or more of the cards off of a Sharing Tree at the locations noted above, purchase the gifts and return the card with the present in a gift bag to ASC.
This year, gifts are due by Friday, Dec. 12. The gifts will be delivered to the residents on Thursday, Dec. 18. Recipients include residents of Golden Years Homes, Traditions of Montgomery, Park Manor, Inspire Services LLC., and Central Health Care.
According to Wade Young, executive director for ASC, the suggestions on the Sharing Tree are simple gifts that will make the recipients’ Christmases brighter.
“Gift suggestions are simple and practical like candy bars, flannel shirts and t-shirts,” Young said. “However, some people were specific and asked for things like a hard plastic Minnesota Vikings cup, acrylic paints and canvas boards for painting. It’s nice to be able to spread some joy by giving these people gifts they want during the holiday season.”
He emphasized that people don’t need to buy everything on the tags, just something to make the person’s Christmas a little brighter.
“The items on the tags are just suggestions,” he added.
The program is sponsored by ASC, CornerStone State Bank, Happy Hour Bar, and Eileen Segna, who manages the program and coordinates the package deliveries with local organizations.
Monetary donations are used to fill a giving card need or purchase gifts for those cards that are not picked up or not returned. Checks or cash donations can be dropped off at ASC, 212 First Street South, PO Box 7, or Happy Hour Bar, 210 First Street South, both in Montgomery.
Segna ensures all of the cards are picked, so no resident is forgotten. If some tags remain on the tree after the deadline (Bah Humbug!), she will use donated funds to purchase the gifts.
“Cash donations are always accepted,” Segna said. “If you don’t want to shop, we will shop for you!”
Tying blankets.
Adalyn and Everly Johnson, 1st graders at Most Holy Redeemer Catholic School, help tie blankets at Family Fun Night on Nov. 14.