When the July flood in Osawatomie washed away the contents of nearly 300 homes, Christmas was far from their minds. But with the holidays quickly approaching, many of those families have lost all their holiday decorations and Christmas trees Osawatomie residents, along with Kansas Assisting Recovery Efforts officials, are planning an event to give decorated Christmas trees to flood affected families.
Michele Hafer of KARE said the first step is to locate the families that need trees to gauge the need. Anyone affected by the flood that needs a Christmas tree should call the Osawatomie Graphic office at 755 4151 to get their name put on a list. Once the need has been identified, the group will take donations of artificial Christmas trees and decorations. A method for distributing the trees has not been determined.
The hope is that Osawatomie elementary school classes will decorate the trees and those taking them home can have their pick. The trees will then be taken down and boxed up for transport. Anyone wishing to donate items for the project can also call or drop items by the Graphic office, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, at 635 Main St.