Catholic Charities Community Services is gearing up for the holidays.

In its 26th year, the holiday assistance team has been collecting gift items for children and youth up to 17 years of age throughout the year to ensure that struggling families will have gifts under the tree, despite the pandemic, according to a release.

New, unwrapped toys and gifts — particularly items for teens — for the emergency Santa program are needed and can be dropped off in person with a no-contact appointment at Catholic Charities Care Campus, 466 S. Bellview in Mesa, by calling 480-833-8987. Appointments are required for drop off to ensure safety. New this year, the emergency Santa program also has an Amazon Wishlist to shop so donors don’t even need to leave their homes.

Staff and a select few volunteers will organize the gifts for families to enjoy socially distanced shopping experiences with all COVID-19 safety protocols in place over the next two weekends. Appointments are extremely limited and can be made by calling 602-650-4860. Parents are asked to pay it forward by volunteering one hour per child of their time to help the community.

“The community has been tremendously supportive of our emergency Santa program over the years for which we are extremely grateful,” Malissa Geer, senior director of community engagement and volunteer services, said in the release. “This year, we are paying strict attention to health and safety protocols to protect our donors, staff and families who are so happy to have the chance to ‘go shopping’ to share gifts during the upcoming holidays.”

Since 1996, CARE Campus, formerly CARE Partnership, has been serving the city of Mesa. CARE Partnership is a grassroots, volunteer-run community center that provides tutoring assistance, after-school help with homework, job training and during the holiday season, an emergency Santa program, which relies solely on donations and volunteers.

For more information, call Catholic Charities at 602-285-1999.