WARRENSBURG — Though fall festivities are only kicking off, Johnson County Christmas Cheer is beginning to get in the holiday spirit.
The organization is entering its fourth year bringing Christmas joy to families in need.
The mission begins with the application process in October – ensuring the program has the information needed to provide the appropriate Christmas gifts, clothing and hygiene items for families. In 2025, the program helped over 800 children in the county.
“We are just getting ready to start sign-ups,” Johnson County Christmas Cheer member Sarah Smidt said. “That part of our year is just getting families to fill out surveys, sizes and wish lists for their kiddos. Then after we get through October, we’ll move on to making our stockings - our angel tree stockings - to hang on our trees around town.”
Sign-ups for the program will be held at the Warrensburg United Methodist Church from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 6; 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 11; and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 17; 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 20, and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 25.
Applicants must provide a photo ID, a copy of a lease or current utility bill, along with an EBT card, WIC, child’s Medicaid card or current pay stubs.
“Besides toys, a lot of kids in our program need basic things like they’ve grown out of their shoes; they need a new winter coat if they’ve grown out of their winter coat from last season,” Smidt said. “Our program, we try to focus on necessity first. Say a child doesn’t get chosen, our first goal is to fulfill all of those necessity requests. There are other things like bedding, pillows, things that don’t seem like luxury items. To a family in need, they really are.”
Smidt added gifts distributed through the program help children of all ages, including teenagers.
“Kids, especially the teenagers, they like to go out to fast food with their friends and things like that,” Smidt said. “A lot of the time financial resources aren't available, so it gives them an opportunity to ask for a gift card to McDonald’s, Taco Bell, or something like that so they can participate in their community at school. It just increases kids’ ability to interact with their peers, which is neat.”
Ahead of the gift collection season, Johnson County Christmas Cheer is searching for a minimum of 3,000 square feet of space for its gift collection and gift wrapping center.
The organization would use the center from late November through mid-December. Private business owners who donate the space may be eligible for a charitable tax receipt.
“As you can imagine, it gets a little hectic with 800 kiddos stuffed in a room,” Smidt said. “And then it’s a place to wrap. It basically allows us to store the merchandise we need to distribute and prepare it for distribution. It’s critical. If Santa cannot find a workshop, we get a little stressed … If you’ve got a space sitting vacant, we are a 501 (c) (3), so we can provide a charitable receipt for tax deduction. I’m hoping that will entice some people, because we do have some spaces sitting vacant around town.”
Each November, Christmas Cheer transitions its efforts to the Angel Tree portion of its program, which allows the community to adopt a child to help provide gifts for. Trees with items will be placed at several locations in the area, including Walmart, the Western Missouri Medical Center Cancer Center, Coffee Sknobs, The Wood Shed, Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Country Kitchen, Wendy’s, the courthouse, Baldwin Property Group and the Lost Art Taproom.
This year, a digital tree will also be made available through Amazon on the organization’s Facebook page.
Opportunities to donate through monetary means are also available. Cash and checks can be dropped off at the Central Missouri Community Credit Union, or mailed to Christmas Cheer PO Box 103, Knob Noster, MO. Checks should be made out to Johnson County Christmas Cheer. A PayPal option is also accessible at https://bit.ly/JoCoCheer.
“Being able to take that burden from parents, who a lot of them are already stretched financially, I understand the stress that can cause,” Smidt said. “I think that it’s so important as a community to rally for them – the kids getting their gifts. Those things, we don’t usually see. Usually we mostly interact with the parents, a lot of times Christmas morning and then the days after our messages on Facebook will blow up. The cool thing is we facilitate it, but it’s really Johnson County that makes it happen. Watching everyone in our community come together for the kid is just awesome. It’s a real faith-in-humanity restorer.”
In addition to monetary donations, Johnson County Christmas Cheer is also looking for student ambassadors. The program is eligible for juniors and seniors. Applications are available with all the school counselors in the county and are due back Nov. 1.
The program is also seeking assistance in the form of volunteers, gift wrapping supplies, construction bags, bottled water and snacks.
Johnson County Christmas Cheer can be contacted on Facebook at JohnsonCountyChristmasCheer or https://bit.ly/4xYX3mi and by email at jocochristmascheer@gmail.com.
“Thank you for continuing to support us these first four years, and going forward, thank you for continuing to support us,” Smidt said. “Without our communities teaming up with us, this wouldn’t be possible. We are so appreciative of people willing to partner with us and help struggling families. It’s been really cool to see our community just constantly coming together and needs being met.”
Joe Andrews can be reached at 660-747-8123.
