Many people give gifts during the holidays, and several area businesses give large gifts to organizations that help those in need.

The Hunt Group of Weichert Realtors is collecting toys this year to benefit Potter Children’s Home. Crystal Adkins, director of agent services for Weichert, said the national realty franchise does its own massive toy drive every year and individual locations can choose to have toy drives in their communities. This is the first year the local office has participated.

Adkins said everyone in the office feels fortunate to be where they are and wants to help others. The holidays can often be hard for people who struggle financially throughout the year, she said, noting a mother of a family from Potter Children’s Home was going to have a difficult time during Christmas because the children’s father died.

“It’s stories like that that make us want to help out and give back,” Adkins said.

Weichert is accepting new, unwrapped toys for infants to 18 years old.

“There’s a need for pretty much everything,” Adkins said.

Toys can be brought to the office from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday at 1053 Lovers Lane. Weichert also takes monetary donations for the drive and will collect until Dec. 19.

Geneva Brewer, volunteer sponsorship coordinator at Potter Children’s Home, said having a donor like Weichert gives the organization the opportunity to “equal things out.” When people take on a child or a family to give gifts to for Christmas, they may not have enough money to fulfill the wish lists. With Weichert giving extra toys and monetary donations, Potter Children’s Home can make sure the children who would otherwise not have had many or any presents under the tree get plenty of toys.

“It’s going to help us be able to fill the wish list needs that other donors haven’t given,” Brewer said. “It sort of fills in the missing pieces. … It’s great when people give to specific children, but there’s also a blessing in the freedom of general gifts.”

The goal is to make sure every child at least gets their biggest wish on their list, Brewer said.

Potter Children’s Home is run primarily by donations all year, Brewer said. Donations are still needed. Anyone interested in giving can email Brewer at geneva@potterministries.org.

The region’s Boy Scouts are doing their annual food drive with the help of a $1,000 donation from Meijer. The items will go to the St. Joseph Conference of St. Vincent de Paul. Chuck Ledford, chairman of the food drive, said the scouts collect food from houses every year and that this year they’ll also be shopping at Meijer with a $1,000 gift card the store gave them for the cause.

“It’ll help greatly,” Ledford said. “It was a very nice gesture on the part of Meijer to the community.”

Barbara Barnett, vice president of the St. Joseph Conference of St. Vincent de Paul, said the organization gives about 250 boxes of food per month. In October, they served 783 people. She said the number of people coming to St. Vincent de Paul for help has increased since September and seems to be more this year than previous years.

Meijer’s donation “will help tremendously because we do not get a lot of donations,” Barnett said.

Barnett said getting extra help around the holidays is always a blessing.

“We feel that the Holy Spirit is working for us when someone comes out of the blue and gives,” Barnett said.

Anyone interested in donating can call the St. Joseph Conference location at 1133 Adams St. at 270-393-9800.

Meijer donates 6 percent of its net profits to organizations within local stores’ communities, said Christina Fecher, public relations manager for Meijer. Through Jan. 3, Meijer is running its Simply Give campaign in which customers can donate to the store and the money goes to area organizations.

Walk2Campus began a food drive with its tenants Monday. The Walk2Campus staff dropped off brown paper sacks at all Walk2Campus properties for the tenants to fill up with non-perishable items, such as pasta and canned goods. The staff will pick up the bags Dec. 8 – Western Kentucky University’s first day of finals week – and give the food to Feeding America, Kentucky’s Heartland, said Patrick Turney, property manager. 

For each item the tenants give, Walk2Campus matches with a dollar. Last year, tenants gave 354 pounds of food and Walk2Campus donated $450, Turney said. With about 243 tenants this year – 50 more than last year – Walk2Campus’ goal is to collect more than 400 pounds of food and donate $550.

“We wanted to empower our tenants to give back and remind them to be thankful for what we have and remember those who are less fortunate,” Turney said.

Turney said he is expecting another good amount of participation this year.

“I think the tenants do want to give back, and I think that’s evident in what they’ve given,” Turney said.

— Follow business beat reporter Monica Spees on Twitter at twitter.com/BGDNbusiness or visit bgdailynews.com.