PARIS – Cash donations for Christmas for Kids are urgently needed this year, said Jean Delamater, Rightstart board member.

“We haven’t had a situation like this for many years,” she said. “This is a crisis year for the program.”

Rightstart was begun in 1979 during the national Year of the Child, the same year that Christmas for Kids began to provide Christmas presents for young pre-teen children in the Oxford Hills. Last year, the program served more than 750 children aged 12 and under in the eight-town region.

This year the need is even greater, said John Williams, Rightstart board member.

Christmas for Kids benefits from several fund-raisers sponsored by Rightstart, including Jump In The Lake for Kids’ Sake, Breakfast with Santa, the Christmas Express, and drop-off locations provided by area businesses. Several area mills, including Robinson Manufacturing in Oxford, used to be strong supporters of the program, but the mills have closed, Delamater said.

And a Christmas for Kids musical concert that once was a strong fund-raiser is no longer being held, although a concert is being held for Christmas for Teens, another Rightstart program.

“Each program has its own fund raising,” she said. “The problem is, there’s such a great need, and so many people vying for dollars.”

Christmas for Teens serves at least 150 teenagers, who must be attending school to qualify for the program.

Donations for Christmas for Kids may be sent to: Christmas for Kids, P.O. Box 726, Norway, ME 04268. Gifts may be dropped off at Community Concepts Inc., or the Chamber of Commerce office on Main Street in South Paris.

Rightstart’s board of directors are Connie Allen, Delamater, Williams, Karen Ellis, Sherry Keaten, Gerri Price, Carlene Treadwell, Rhonda Twitchell, Wendy Williams and Chris Yates.