Receiving a stocking stuffed with candy and goodies for Christmas is a given for many kids all over the world, but so many others it is not. Community members have been working to make sure that little bit of normalcy is retained for children and teens who are in need around the Bigfork area.

Ho, Ho, Ho, which stands for Holiday Operation, Hearts Open and Helping Others, is on their third Christmas for helping kids in Bigfork. The project was created by Debbie Ingram, who wanted to give something back to kids whose parents were going through a tough time financially. Ingram said the stockings are filled with fruit, small toys and games and hygiene products.

“Every single stocking has a toothbrush and toothpaste in it...high school and middle school kids get deodorant, we had someone donate 50 bottles of shower gel...we do bars of soap in little drawstring bags. It’s all about the presentation with me,” Ingram said.

The idea is to give kids things they need while still giving them a traditional stocking. So, Ingram said food and candy are an important part of the gift that’s provided by Harvest Foods in Bigfork.

“The get an apple, an orange, a packet of hot cocoa, a packet of hot cider, fun fruits granola bars and premade cheese and crackers, or peanut butter and crackers is what I asked for this year,” Ingram said. “We’re also doing this thing I saw on Facebook, snowmen made out of candy bars,”

The project is a collaboration between many groups in Bigfork. She said Harvest Foods donated 100 candy bars for the snowmen this year. She said they also receive help from many other community members and Bigfork Rotary, as well as the Bigfork Food Bank, which helps host the giveaway.

There’s food, hygiene products, toys, games and coloring books---if it all seems like a lot to fit into a stocking, that’s because it is. Ingram said the past two years they’ve used backpacks and totes bags in addition to stockings in order to give kids more of what they need.

“The first year we started out with stockings, it didn’t take us long to realize that stuff was not going to fit in the stocking. I happened on a sale at Walmart for backpacks for one dollar, so I bought what I could that day and put it out there to friends and they kept going back in and buying the backpacks...and we didn’t have backpacks for everybody, but we were in pretty good shape. The elementary school kids got two stockings tied together,” Ingram said.

This year Ingram said she hasn’t been able to get out and grab backpacks this year because of health concerns, but they are looking at other options like lunch boxes and fanny packs. She said she would also take backpacks through donations.

Ho Ho Ho typically gives out a little over 100 stockings to kids in Bigfork. Ingram said whatever was leftover was donated to the Heart Program in Kalispell, a resource center to students that provides clothing, bedding, school supplies and hygiene products. She said she get the number of how many they should prepare based on numbers provided by Bigfork Food Bank.

Ingram said the plan is for Ho, Ho, Ho to be incorporated into ACES’ 501c3, making it easier to keep track of donations as the program grows.

“This has become so much more than we thought, it was supposed to be a one-off, it’s become so much more that we’re going to come up with a mission statement this year...when people hand me their money I want to be accountable,” Ingram said.

Ingram said donations must be in by December 10. They will give them away during Bigfork Food Bank’s Christmas distribution day on December 14. If anyone is interested in donating items for the stocking stuffers, they can drop them off at Half To Have It Consignment Store, The Bigfork Food Bank or The Bigfork Chamber of Commerce. Contact Ingram at 406-885-7714 for more information.