Submitted photo Volunteers at Tyrand Cooperative Ministries pack up food boxes during a previous holiday season.

MILL CREEK — Tyrand Cooperative Ministries continues to help out families this holiday season with its annual free Christmas Store and annual holiday meal Christmas baskets.

According to Tyrand Executive Director Makayla Mayle, around 150 kids received Christmas presents through their Christmas Store and around 200 families are signed up to receive a Christmas basket to help them prepare a holiday meal. Baskets will be going out on Dec. 19.

“Typically on the basket days we have close to 20 volunteers that come and help,” Mayle told The Inter-Mountain.

Tyrand, according to their website, begins taking applications for their Christmas baskets in October. All applications should be turned in by the end of the second week of December. Tyrand also operates a Thanksgiving basket program with applications being accepted between October and the end of the first week of November.

Baskets are made up of items donated to and purchased by Tyrand. The ministry begins collecting monetary and canned donations for the baskets starting in November. When asked what someone can expect inside their Christmas basket, Mayle explained that you receive, “pretty much anything you need to make a Christmas meal.”

“You’ll get the whole ham, and then you’ll get the green beans, corn, sweet potatoes, mash potatoes and gravy, and then they’ll get cookies for dessert,” Mayle said. “This year is the first year we’ve actually had fresh fruit because it was donated.”

Tyrand’s Christmas Store is also made up of donated and purchased items. Taking place three days in December, the Christmas Store is free to parents “who need Christmas gifts for their children.”In order to qualify for this program, children must be between being a newborn and 18 years old and still live in the home. According to Mayle, the ministry has held the Christmas Store for around 20 years.

Though the Christmas Store is over for this holiday season, Tyrand accepts donations of new, packaged toys year round. They also accept monetary donations for the store and new underwear of all sizes are always needed.

According to Mayle, the volunteers who help out with the Christmas Store and Christmas baskets feel really good about the work they do.

“We’ve also had other volunteers that just started this year that actually recruited more volunteers,” Mayle said. “So, it’s like we’re all a big family here.”

To learn more about Tyrand Cooperative Ministries’ charitable programs or to donate, contact the ministry at 304-335-2788 or at tcm@frontiernet.net.