It’s been a busy holiday season at the Tamaqua Salvation Army.

The Salvation Army had a successful Thanksgiving, and the spirit of Christmas is well and alive in the Tamaqua Area.

On Wednesday, the Salvation Army had its Christmas giveaways which featured food, Toys for Tots and presents from Angel Tree donors.

“We had Angel Tree donors and sponsors from local organizations such as Highwood, Silberline, Lowe’s, Hiles — and it’s not the owners writing a big tax-deductible check, it’s the employees (of various organizations) who go out and buy everything. This is from the community, to the community.”

The Angel Tree project is completely anonymous, Luby said. “They come and register, but they don’t know who pulled the tag off the tree to take care of that particular child’s needs.”

Boyer’s supplied many hams that were given away, as well as packed bags full of food for the holidays. An additional $1,500 Christmas gift was given to the Salvation Army.

Tons of Toys for Tots packed the gymnasium of the Salvation Army. There were plenty of volunteers on site to help aid in the distribution of each program. Another Christmas project happening this week is called Tickets for Teens, which was arranged through the Dancheck family and Angela Theatre. Tickets for shows were given to the Salvation Army at an extremely reasonable price for teenagers of families in need.

Thursday will mark another exciting day, as the inaugural Adopt a Family program will be in full swing. Adopt a Family is a similar concept to the Angel Tree.

“The Adopt a Family program consists of an anonymous donor that gives a family, not presents or gifts, but something you need in your house; utensils, blankets, sheets, towels, coats for you and your kids.”

The donor families will be dropping off their contributions on Thursday, which will be picked up the families in need during the coming days. “We’re going to sit down with our sponsors after the first of the year and do a debrief. What did we do well, what did we not to do well, and what could we do better in terms of coordinate next year.”

Major Gayle Luby and Captain John have been at the helm of the Tamaqua Salvation Army for a few short months. The community has response has been wonderful — but Captain Luby is not taking any credit for all of the recent positive work.

“It’s not the Salvation Army, it’s not about me, it’s not about my wife. It’s about the community responding to each other’s needs. This is an amazing community and all of this is done by volunteers.”