July at Good Samaritan Ministries can only mean one thing: Christmas is only six months away. That means it’s Christmas in July – a month-long fund drive to raise money for the Christmas boxes given out in December.

“The premise behind the drive is simply to give people an opportunity to donate for the Christmas boxes we give in December now when the weather is warm and there aren’t quite so many things pulling on your attention and your wallet,” said Angelia Bostick, Executive Director of Good Samaritan Ministries. “It serves to help those who donate as well as it gives us a buffer so we have money in the bank when we start ordering Christmas food in October.”

December is always the busiest month and the more that can be done ahead of time to prepare for the influx of families helps so much.

“Last year we saw 1,415 families in the three weeks we were open in December,” Bostick said. “That number has increased each year.”

The holidays are hard for most people but when you are, at best, living paycheck to paycheck and, at worse, a paycheck behind, it adds even more stress.

The Christmas boxes are given in addition to regular grocery staples and contain most of the ingredients needed to prepare a traditional Christmas dinner.

“It costs about $30 to provide one family with a box filled with Christmas food,” Bostick said. “But a donation in any amount will go so far to help a family prepare a traditional Christmas dinner.”

Donations for the Christmas in July fund drive may be mailed to P.O. Box 1136, Brownwood, TX 76804, drop it by 305 Clark Street or make a donation online at goodsambwd.org. For more information, please call 643-2273 or 325-203-2489.