Volunteers arrive recently with bags of gifts donated to children in Waldo County. Waldo Community Action Partners photo

BELFAST — When Waldo Community Action Partners introduced its new online digital application process for the Neighbor for Neighbor Coalition earlier this fall, its members knew it would make registering for holiday food boxes and Christmas gifts for children a simpler, more efficient process.

Now, to meet that higher demand for the holiday services, program organizers are looking to the public for assistance.

More volunteers, more donations, and more people willing to “adopt” children and/or families in need of gifts are needed.

“We have seen small but steady increases in demand for these holiday programs for the past several years, but we knew there were even more people who would benefit from the service who were deterred from applying at all due to the previous more cumbersome process. In the past, the applications were all paper,” Development Director Monica Pettengill said in a news release from the organization.

The previous process required people acquiring a paper application and at their town office or receiving it by mail, they then needed to complete and return the application by mail or in person to the WCAP main office in Belfast. Staff would then spend dozens of hours entering all the applications into a database.

The online digital application Pettengill introduced this year made it so anyone with a phone or laptop could apply for the holiday help in a process that averaged less than 15 minutes to complete. All information that was crucial to process the application was in required fields, which nearly eliminated the issue of missing information. Online applications also eliminate costs associated with data entry. Paper applications were still available for those without the tools or capacity to apply online, but digital applications began pouring in as soon as they were opened in early September.

By the time Neighbor for Neighbor applications had closed for the Thanksgiving requests, there was nearly a 15% increase over the same period last year. Even more than that are expected by the Christmas deadline of Wednesday, Nov. 27.

“This is truly a great outcome, and exactly what we had hoped for,” said Pettengill. “It does present some new challenges, but we know the Waldo County community will support us in making sure everyone who needs help receives it this holiday season.”

Pettengill said first they will apply any costs savings from the efficiencies they implemented to help cover the direct costs of food boxes and gifts.

“We know each food box costs about $40. That means for every 10 additional households applying, we need to cover another $400 per holiday just for the food. We also need to find another 10 or so volunteers to help us deliver that food. Then, for the households needing assistance with gifts for children, we are looking for special people who love the joy of giving experience.”

Thanksgiving food boxes will be delivered Saturday, Nov. 23, and Christmas food boxes will be delivered Saturday, Dec. 21. Gifts for children will be arranged by appointment, and anyone who has requested gifts should hear from WCAP staff during the first couple of weeks in December.

For more information or to volunteer, make a financial contribution, or purchase gifts for children, call the Neighbor for Neighbor phone line at 207-338-4944 or email N4N@waldocap.org.

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