Members of the Chautauqua County Town and Village Highway Superintendents Association join Majors John and Kim Merchant of the Salvation Army at the Lakewood Rod and Gun with the toys collected by the association for the Angel Tree program. P-J photo by Dennis Phillips

An annual program to give low-income children a Merry Christmas continues to grow in Chautauqua County.

On Wednesday, the Chautauqua County Town and Village Highway Superintendents Association held its annual toy collection meeting at the Lakewood Rod and Gun. The toys are collected by countywide highway superintendents and given to children in the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree program.

Majors John and Kim Merchant of the Salvation Army said 625 children are participating in the Angel Tree program, which provides three gifts to each child. Kim Merchant said it’s an annual event in which children’s names are placed on tags on an “Angel Tree” that is displayed at Walmart and local banks.

“It’s to make sure (the children) have a happy Christmas morning,” Kim Merchant said. “It’s to make sure children who wouldn’t have a Christmas get to have the joy of a Christmas morning.”

Major John Merchant said the Salvation Army also provides a food basket that contains either a turkey or a ham to 364 families.

The Toys for Kids program was started by Doug and Martha Peterson, former owners of Southern Tier Municipal & Construction Supply Co. Inc. Doug Peterson said the Toys for Kids program was started 18 years ago. He said it continues to grow each year, with last year’s donation drive providing more than a 1,000 gifts to children and $1,000 for the Salvation Army’s Red Kettle campaign.

“Every year it has grown, and it’s because of these guys (Chautauqua County Town and Village Highway Superintendents Association). They are what makes it successful,” Doug Peterson said.