![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Gifts-for-Kids-2025-Photo-of-Carbondale-Distribution-2-300x225.jpg\")
Danielle Pevec of Carbondale, left, looks through board games with Christina Hoffman from Catholic Social Services, during the Gifts for Kids toy distribution in Carbondale Dec. 9, 2025. (Photo\/Eric Deabill)<\/p>\nCARBONDALE \u2013 The basement hall at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church transformed into Santa\u2019s workshop on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025, as Catholic Social Services of the Diocese of Scranton provided early holiday cheer for many families in the greater Carbondale area.<\/p>\n
Catholic Social Services welcomed families from across Lackawanna County\u2019s Upper Valley for its annual Gifts for Kids distribution, offering toys, winter clothing, books, games, and stocking stuffers to the families of 284 pre-registered children.<\/p>\n
Danielle Pevec of Carbondale, left, looks through board games with Christina Hoffman from Catholic Social Services, during the Gifts for Kids toy distribution in Carbondale Dec. 9, 2025. (Photo\/Eric Deabill)<\/p>\n
Parents were able to shop for two brand-new, unwrapped gifts for each child \u2013 and for many, the chance to choose something personal made all the difference.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s joyful,\u201d said CSS caseworker Christina Hoffman, who spent the day walking with parents as they selected gifts. \u201cWe\u2019re making it a positive event. It is all about gift giving and being here to help one another throughout the holiday season.\u201d<\/p>\n
For parents like Nate Jones, who shopped for two children, the help is essential.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m on a budget \u2013 I get SSI \u2013 so this helps me out a lot,\u201d he said. \u201cI know their personalities.\u201d<\/p>\n
Danielle Pevec of Carbondale was shopping for her young daughter.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy daughter is very tall and finding clothes for her is a little difficult, so being able to shop that way was very helpful,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Pevec even spotted a family game \u2013 Pictionary \u2013 that struck the perfect chord.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery day, I ask her a \u2018question of the day,\u2019\u201d she explained. \u201cLast night, I asked, \u2018What is something you\u2019d like to learn with me?\u2019 She said drawing. I caught Pictionary out of the corner of my eye, and that\u2019s why I picked it. We\u2019ll be able to draw together and have fun at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Longtime volunteer Trish Smith, who dresses each year as the \u2018Grinch\u2019 for the toy distribution, said the day never loses its magic.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe smiles, the people \u2013 it just brings joy,\u201d she shared. \u201cI love the music. I love the people. It is something that brings smiles and a little bit of happiness to people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Behind the scenes, the toy distribution takes months of planning.<\/p>\n
Jolette Lyons, CSS Director of Lackawanna County Offices, noted that planning begins in April, with registration in the fall, and toy collections throughout the year.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody wants their kid to have a nice Christmas. Everybody wants toys under the Christmas tree for their children and so the opportunity to serve the community like this is really wonderful for us,\u201d Lyons said. <\/p>\n
For families who missed the registration deadline, CSS offered a second chance distribution on Wednesday, Dec. 10, ensuring that no child in Lackawanna County\u2019s Upper Valley goes without presents on Christmas morning. <\/p>\n
Catholic Social Services in Hazleton will also distribute toys to hundreds of children in that community from Dec. 20-23.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CARBONDALE \u2013 The basement hall at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church transformed into Santa\u2019s workshop on Tuesday,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":64346,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[178,180,179],"class_list":{"0":"post-64345","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-scranton","8":"tag-scranton","9":"tag-scranton-headlines","10":"tag-scranton-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64345"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64345\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}