NORWAY — Fundraising efforts for the Christmas for Teens and Christmas for Kids programs is well under way but more help is needed, says Connie Allen, co-chairwoman along with Gerri Price of the Christmas for Kids program..

“Christmas for Kids is receiving applications for participation in our program daily,” she said in a statement e-mailed to the Sun Journal. “We expect that this year will be equal to, if not worse than, last year when we served over 800 children and teens in the Oxford Hills area. The only way that we can fill all the cases is through the efforts of the community.”

A major fundraising event will get under way for the Christmas for Teens program at 7 p.m. Friday when the 10th annual Christmas for Teens concert is held at the Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School auditorium in Paris.

Last year the sold-out concert, the group’s largest fundraiser, raised more than $4,000 to help 180 economically eligible and homeless teenagers in the Oxford Hills area, said Jean Delamater, chairwoman of Christmas for Teens.

Tickets are available from chorus members and at Books-n-Things on Main Street in Norway for the event that will feature the all-volunteer community chorus led by veteran musical director Cynthia Wescott and local high school Drama Club students and others who will join the ensemble.

For more information about the concert or Christmas for Teens program, call Delamater at 539-4587.

Allen said the donations for the programs are also received through gifts, such as one in memory of Bruce Day and Harold Moore, whose family asked for donations to the program in lieu of memorial flowers and/or money from individuals and groups.

“We have experienced shoppers who shop for and prepare the cases and make sure that all the children’s cases are filled equally,” she said.

Applications to Christmas for Kids and Christmas for Teens can be picked up at Community Concepts in Market Square, Paris. The deadline for filing applications is Dec. 16.

Donations to the teen program, which serves students between the ages of 13 and 18 who meet certain economic criteria, can be mailed to Christmas for Teens, P.O. Box 726, Norway, ME 04268.

The Christmas for Kids program is for children between birth and age 12. Allen said contributions can be mailed to Christmas for Kids, PO Box 726, Norway, ME 04268. New toys or other gifts for the program can be contributed at the Oxford Hills Chamber of Commerce in South Paris or the Hannaford store in Oxford.

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