On Sunday morning, while most Marbleheaders were on the Christmas walk and buying gifts for friends and family, others were out buying gifts for complete strangers and delivering them to SPUR’s offices, where young volunteers feverishly wrapped up the gifts for people in need around the Northshore. Their tireless efforts concluded a months-long process to support children and families in need around Lynn, Salem, Swampscott, and Marblehead.
The annual SPUR Holiday Cheer Drive supports over 600 local children in need, and adults experiencing homelessness, with winter essentials and holiday gifts to brighten their holiday season. This year, people around the North Shore signed up to sponsor specific holiday wish lists on the SPUR website and then they went out to buy the gifts.
“Each wish list contains something they want, something to wear, something they need, and something to read,” said Kim Nothnagel, Director of Communications & Community Relations at SPUR. However, since the rest is up to the volunteers who buy the gifts, it often ends up being a lot more than that. The sponsors take their gifts to SPUR’s office at 6 Anderson Street, where volunteers wrap the gifts up and place them into beautiful handmade pillowcases, ready to be brought to the individuals. They get over a thousand volunteers every year for the project, who donate supplies and gifts and help wrap them.
The wrapping is one of the most popular things we do,” said Bryan Lamoreau, Director of Volunteer Engagement. But while the project ramps up in November and December, it actually starts back in January when volunteers handmake unique pillowcases to hold the donated gifts.
“We have a fantastic group of volunteers, they use donated fabric, and they put together over 600 unique pillowcases,’ said Lamoreau. “Each individual then gets unique pillowcases, and they can put their head down at night knowing that someone in the community is thinking of them.” Many pillowcases are catered to the interests of specific children, with Red Sox or Pixar themed pillowcases going to children who expressed interest in those subjects.
After the government shutdown in November impacted SNAP funding and left many families on the North shore even more financially vulnerable, SPUR is trying their best to provide support.
“When SNAP shut down, many people were sent to private organizations like local food pantries to provide support as a sort of band aid fix unfortunately,” said Nothnagel. “That downtime creates lag in our systems that families are still really reeling from.”
Since there is more need in our communities this year, there are still 20 adults experiencing homelessness who are without sponsors. But Nothnagel is confident that the community can step up and help them get back on their feet.
“We believe strongly and the data shows that meaningful intervention and support helps people build a bridge out of homelessness into safe permanent housing and a stable future,” said Nothnagel. “We really believe in what we’re doing and we know that our supporters do too. So, we’re really optimistic that people are going to rise to the occasion. We’ve taken on more, but we’re confident that this community can do it.”
SPUR is just one of several local organizations working hard right now to make the holidays a little more festive for everyone. Volunteers with the Edith Dodge Fund have been working tirelessly these last few months to bring more holiday cheer into the lives of Marblehead seniors. For the 52nd consecutive year, Edith Dodge is giving gifts of cookies or clementines to every person over 80 years old in Marblehead. There are more than 1,000 people over 80 living in Marblehead, and Edith Dodge is hoping to bring them some holiday joy.
“It’s meant to bring a bit of joy during the many winter months,” said Joan Cutler, former President and board member at Edith Dodge. After months of planning, ordering gifts, and preparing the routes, the project finally ramped up last week. On Tuesday morning, the VFW building on West Shore Drive was full of volunteers packing hundreds of containers of cookies and wrapping gifts.
“It’s chaos, controlled chaos,” Cutler said, describing the scene. After wrapping, volunteers drive the gifts to each house on their route to give them to the seniors. Seniors at the assisted living facilities in town also receive fleece blankets and cards from Edith Dodge. The Edith Dodge relies on donations, which have been dwindling over the last few years.
“We function strictly on donations, on the kindness of strangers and friends,” said Cutler. “After Covid, we took a big hit. Our donations have dropped down tremendously and have not recovered.”
In this economic climate with the rising rent and cost of living in Massachusetts, Cutler says that older Marbleheaders living on a fixed income often suffer the most. She hopes that these small gifts can provide them with some holiday cheer and encouragement.
“In the midst of all the stress, it’s nice to get something that maybe you can’t afford to buy. Maybe you can buy the whole damn cookie company, but on the other hand, maybe you can’t. We want people to know that they’re remembered. They’re not forgotten.”
Making Ends Meet is another volunteer organization focused on helping out Marblehead residents in need and have been keeping busy this holiday season. Making ends meet is dedicated to helping Marbleheaders make it through financial crises, and in 2025, they have provided more than $10,000 in grocery gift cards to combat food insecurity in Marblehead residents, helped stock the Marblehead food pantry, and helped pay home energy costs. This holiday season, their “Adopt a family” program is matching sponsors with the wish lists of children in need for Christmas gifts and are providing gift cards to purchase food for holiday meals.
“It’s heartwarming to know how we’ve brought smiles and joy to so many Marblehead children!” said Diane Vigneron in an email to the Current.
