The Christmas room has been a Helping Hands tradition for several years, according to Bonnie Kyle, Christmas Room manager. However, this is the biggest Christmas Room in its history, occupying a large space in the facility.

“It just keeps growing bigger and bigger,” Kyle said. “It’s all been donated within the last year — none of these items are from last year. It’s always new and fresh, so if anyone shopped last year and is saying, ‘I’ve seen it all,’ no, this is all new.”

Community Helping Hands is a nonprofit organization that helps individuals and families with emergency needs for clothing, household items and furniture.

The “Christmas Room” first started as a small corner in the “Picker’s Store” section of Helping Hands, and has grown more and more each year. Kyle said all the proceeds benefit Community Helping Hands in various ways.

Bonnie Kyle, Christmas Room manager at Community Helping Hands, is pictured during the VIP opening day Friday of the special holiday-themed store. P-J photo by Katrina Fuller

“It helps to keep the lights on and pay the few employees they do have,” she said. “And it gives a bit back into the community itself.”

Kyle said the staff at Helping Hands began assembling the Christmas Room at the beginning of October. The space includes tables and displays filled with various types of holiday knickknacks, decorations, wrapping paper, bags and more.

Kyle said her favorite items in the Christmas Room are the hundreds of snowmen for sale.

“But, I love the Christmas trees — there are just so many things I love about it,” she said. “I can’t just say one thing, but I do love how everybody pulled it together and helped me put this together. I could not have done all of this by myself at all. I don’t have that much creativity as everyone else does. So it is great that we put everyone’s creativity together and it just flowed.”

Kyle said at Helping Hands, the team of staff and volunteers “grow together as a community.” She said the team is like a “second family.”

“We just grow so much and then the love gets so big that we can’t help but reach out to the community itself,” she said. “That’s one of the main reasons why I’m here at Community Helping Hands.”

Tina Chamberlin, Community Helping Hands staff member, said the organization has three different shops located within it: a clothing shop, a household items section and the Picker’s Store with various knickknacks and other items. She said the various efforts of the nonprofit go directly back to the community in many ways. Community Helping Hands offers various services to help community members in need, including access to household items, furniture needs and emergency clothing.

The special sneak peek began on Friday afternoon and will continue through next Wednesday from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. An entry fee of $5 gives patrons a 1-hour window of uninterrupted Christmas shopping. On Wednesday, November 3rd at 3 p.m., the Christmas Room will open to the public. Community Helping Hands is located at 31 Water St. in Jamestown. For more information, call 487-1488.