All I want for Christmas is ... canned food, volunteers, monetary donations and pet food.

These are just a few of the many items area organizations are wishing Santa or the kindhearted people in the community will bring them this Christmas.In an effort to bring a little holiday cheer to a number of these groups and the people or animals they serve, the TIMES NEWS is acting as one of Santa's Little Helpers and publishing their Christmas wish lists.Animal sheltersand rescues• Carbon County Animal Shelter, located at 63 Broad St., Nesquehoning, on top of the Broad Mountain off Route 93, is hoping to find bleach, liquid laundry detergent, garbage bags, soft dog treats, dry dog food, paper towels, bath towels, dish soap, money, Lysol wipes and loving homes for all the dogs under its tree this Christmas.The shelter works with approximately 300 dogs annually and needs these items to help care for the canines until the owners are found or they are adopted. To donate or to adopt a dog, call the shelter at 570-325-4828 or stop by between 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, or 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.• Carbon County Friends of Animals, located at 900 Walnut Ave., Jim Thorpe, wants to find non-clumping cat litter; bleach; Purina cat food; Purina Kitten Chow; baby rice cereal; Gerber's Chicken baby food with no vegetable added; cat nail clippers; cat beds; paper towels; hand soap; latex rubber gloves; cleaning products; plastic spray bottles; dish and laundry detergent; heavy black garbage bags; brooms and mops; dust pans and brushes; copy paper; black Sharpie markers; Post-it notes; index cards in blue, pike and yellow; pens; money and volunteers in its stocking. The dozens of cats currently at the shelter are also hoping for a "furever" home and can be adopted during business hours.Donations can be dropped off between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday or 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., on weekends; or call 570-325-9400 to make other arrangements.• Weatherly Pound, located at Rear 601 W. Main St., Weatherly, is a non-profit organization that helps stray animals in the borough of Weatherly. Its wish list includes: dry and canned kitten and cat food, cat treats, paper towels, hand and dish soap, mops, brooms, garbage cans, industrial strength 32 gallon trash bag, laundry detergent, money and volunteers.Donations can be dropped off at the Weatherly Borough Office between 7:30 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. To volunteer, contact Lori O'Donnell at 570-427-8640, Monday through Friday between 7:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. or 570-427-8434 on evenings and weekends.• Carbon County Animal Response Team, a local volunteer group that helps animals in emergency situations, wishes for flashlights, large and extra-large rain poncho, a digital camera, walkie talkies, UHF/VHF radios, sterile gauze/wraps/Ace bandages, large zip lock bags, heavy duty extension cords, ammonia detectors, face masks, used or old hoses, used or old fire hose, tie down straps, 100 feet of -inch rope, three feet 1/2-inch rope, two feet 1/2-inch rope, various sizes of bell pulleys, various sizes of single and double pulleys, any size tow straps, various size muck boots, carabineers, vinyl gloves, latex gloves with and without powder, horse halters and leads, small dry erase boards, dry erase markers, two "office to go" boxes (file boxes with wheels and a handle) and monetary donations to help the members of the group better serve the animals when disasters strike.To donate to the group or to become a volunteer, contact Diane Sharpless at 570-778-6886 or email

deeja@ptd.net.• Schuylkill County Animal Response Team, a volunteer group that helps animals in emergency situations, is in need of clean towels and blankets, paper towels, ResQ Glide, a large animal veterinarian, gift cards and monetary donations this Christmas.To donate, contact Jay Woodford, Schuylkill CART coordinator, at

jay@schuylkillcart.com or 570-449-1932.• Safe Haven Pet Rescue, a volunteer animal rescue serving Blakeslee and the surrounding area that helps find homes for unwanted, stray or abused animals, is hoping Santa brings blankets, dog toys, towels, cleaning supplies, leashes and collars in border collie sizes, monetary donations, volunteers and foster homes for rescue dogs this Christmas.To donate, email

safehave@epix.net and someone will contact you to set up a time to pick up donations. To volunteer or foster an animal, fill out an application on

www.SafeHavenPA.org.• Tamaqua Area Animal Rescue, a small volunteer group in the Tamaqua area, hopes to find financial assistance to build a building and small holding kennel in its Christmas stocking. TAAR noted that all fundraising efforts currently go toward purchasing a small amount of property and its building project. The group works with stray animals in Tamaqua and the surrounding areas.To donate, call 570-527-6808.Food pantries• All of the food pantries in the area are looking for the same thing under their trees this Christmas food. Canned and non-perishable food items; as well as monetary donations can be dropped off at local pantries on the day they operate or by calling the pantry to make other arrangements.For a list of pantries, when they operate and a contact number, visit

http://www.shfblv.org/county_carbon.php;

http://www.schuylkillcommunityaction.com/services/pantries.html or

http://www.shfblv.org/county_monroe.phpFire departments• All fire departments in the area are volunteer-run. For Christmas, they are all hoping to receive monetary donations to help serve the communities when fires or other emergencies occur; volunteers willing to help not only fight fires, but fundraising as well; and community support at fire company functions and fundraisers.To donate or volunteer, contact your local fire department volunteers.Family-oriented groups• Care Net of Carbon County, located at 531 Mahoning St., Lehighton, serves pregnant women and families in need of counseling and other services. They are hoping Santa will bring them diapers in sizes 4, 5 and 6; baby wipes; baby wash; Desitin or A&D ointment; baby shampoo; baby lotion; Orajel teething gel; sippy cups; rattles; teething rings; infant formula; receiving blankets; cribs sheets; new winter clothing in sizes 6 months to 4T; or monetary donations for Christmas because they have been very, very good.To donate, visit the center on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday beginning at 11 a.m. or call 610-379-0411 to make arrangements to drop off donations.• Catholic Charities, located at St. Katharine Drexel Church's office, 124 E. Abbott St., Lansford, and at 13 Wood Road, Pottsville, is in need of personal care items such as toothbrushes and toothpaste, shampoo, mouth wash, soap and body wash; grocery store gift cards to help cover the cost of perishable food items such as fruit, vegetables and meats; and monetary donations to help supply the food pantry for Catholic Charities Carbon and Schuylkill office.Catholic Charities is a non-profit social service agency operated by the Diocese of Allentown. The group works to help children, families and the elderly in need of support, services and assistance. To donate, call St. Katharine Drexel's office at 570-645-2282; or 570-628-0466 ext. 307 and ask for Mary Hoben.• Special Olympics of Carbon County, which provides individuals with intellectual disabilities year-round athletic training and Olympic-style competition; as well as continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness skills and lasting friendships with their family and other athletes, is hoping Santa brings volunteers for the New Year. Their wish list includes volunteers to serve as coaches for floor hockey, track and field, bocce ball and bowling or on its management team, as well as to help with fundraising efforts. They also are looking for "polar bears" at heart to be part of the team "Carbon County Clucks and Cubes" for the upcoming 2014 Lehigh Valley Polar Plunge, held Jan. 18 in Scott Park, Easton.To volunteer, contact Sheri Anthony at

sheria@ptd.net or Maureen Foster at 570-401-1430. To register for the Lehigh Valley Polar Plunge or to donate to the team, visit

http://tinyurl.com/clucksandcubes.• Family Promise of Carbon County, a program designed to help families who are homeless get back on their feet through joint community efforts, has been very good this year and hopes presents in the form of gift cards are under this year's Christmas tree. Gift cards can include gas cards, Mallard Market grocery store in Lehighton, Giant, Walmart and prepaid debit cards.They are also hoping for more volunteers, host and new support congregations, child care providers for non-traditional work hours, scholarship funding for training programs and mentors for guests.To donate, mail gift cards to Family Promise Day Center, 167 S. Third St., Lehighton; give them to your church's volunteer coordinator with the designation for Family Promise; or call 610-379-4757.• Carbon County Right From The Start, a program that helps pregnant women and children and their families from birth to kindergarten, has been very good this year and hopes that Santa will bring them gift cards for AC Moore or other craft stores; gift cards for local grocery stores; small bottles of bottled water or 100 percent juice boxes; reams or cases of copier paper; gift cards to Staples, Office Depot or Klingaman's; gift cards to Walmart or Lowes; gift cards to Barnes and Noble; and monetary donations to help defray costs for home visit and program supplies.To help Right From The Start, contact Evalynn Kuehner at 570-325-2771 or email

ekuehner@jtasd.org. Monetary donations can be sent to Carbon County Right From The Start, 410 Center Ave., Jim Thorpe, PA 18229.• Peaceful Knights, located at 185 Penn Drive, Lehighton, helps people in need of shelter by providing temporary housing to those who are likely to be self-sufficient within 90 days. They are wishing Santa will bring them $25 Walmart gift cards; bottles of laundry detergent; bars of soap; toilet paper; under $20 AT&T go phones; toothpaste and toothbrushes; paper towels; shampoo; men's deodorant; cans of Lysol spray; and black backpacks.To donate, call Aggie Shehadeh at 610-393-2536 or email

Peace@ptd.net.