By Jordan Richart

For The Tribune

Matt Lorenzo did not let his inexperience with wrapping gifts stop him from doing his part to bring Christmas to those in need.

The Seymour attorney was one of about 25 members of the Jackson County Sertoma Club who showed up to the service club’s headquarters Wednesday night to wrap gifts for the annual Sertoma Christmas Miracle.

“This project is a great way to give back to families that don’t have as much as we have been able to be blessed with,” the five-year member said. “There’s a lot of different ways you can help if you’re not good at wrapping.”

Those include sorting, donating gifts from the Angel Trees placed at different places in the community, donating monetarily or coming in to deliver gifts on Christmas Eve.

Lorenzo said he enjoys being at the headquarters on Christmas Eve and seeing people come together to deliver the presents.

“It is heartening to see how many people who want to give back,” he said. “We have entire groups both come in to help wrap or deliver the gifts.”

Groups have come in throughout the season, John Fox, co-chairman of Christmas Miracle, said.

Eight other groups in the community came in to help wrap gifts over the week, and Fox expects five groups next week.

“We also have regular volunteers who come in to help and wrap,” he said.

Fox said the need in 2023 is greater than it was in 2022 with applications totaling 66 more than last year in the same time period.

“Last year, we had 614 kids in around 240 families, and we expect to exceed that,” he said.

Fox said the economy, inflation, migration and other factors all contribute to the growth in need.

“It is understandable that our numbers are the way they are,” he said.

Each child receives a main gift, a secondary gift and a blanket. Immanuel Lutheran School and Trinity Lutheran High School have conducted blanket drives to donate to the boxes.

The Jackson County Sertoma Christmas Miracle raises more than $24,000 to pull off, Fox said.

“A lot of that is in-kind by people buying off the Angel Trees and bringing presents in,” he said. “But there’s a lot of it that comes from industries here, business, groups and individual contributors.”

The Jackson County Sertoma Club’s Christmas Miracle Angel Trees were put up at the Jackson County Public Library, Shoe Sensation and Jackson County Visitor Center in Seymour.

Fox estimates about 60% of the campaign is made by people buying the gifts and bringing them in, while the remaining 40% is raised monetarily.

Fox said no one really knows the exact origin of Sertoma Christmas Miracle, but the effort has been in the county since the early 1970s, according to Tribune articles from that time period.

That effort started with about five children back then. Fox said the generosity of the community has allowed that figure to grow to where between 600 and 700 kids are being helped.

He said helping the community is what the Jackson County Sertoma Christmas Miracle is about.

In his 11 years of serving as co-chair of the effort, he has always felt like the community has come through to support it, Fox said.

“It’s giving back to the community, you know? That really means something,” he said. “You need to give back, and it involves kids and everyone in the community. I think that’s why it has received the support that it has.”

Monetary donations can be made year-round by mailing them to P.O. Box 841, Seymour, IN 47274.

Fox said another need the group has is for people to show up on Christmas Eve to deliver the presents.

“We could always use help with delivering on Christmas Eve morning beginning at 7 in the morning,” he said. “The coffee is always hot, and the doughnuts are always fresh.”