The Lewis County Salvation Army has transformed its Centralia headquarters into the North Pole as Santa’s elves prepare to hand out more than 7,000 presents ahead of Christmas.

“It is an incredible feat, and I know that Captain Steven and I, without a doubt, would not be able to do it on our own,” Captain Gin Pack said Tuesday. “It’s the staff and volunteers who show up every day … to be able to do that. It’s a lot of people doing a lot of things out of the kindness of their hearts.”

Through community donations and the generosity of local businesses, the presents mean that more than 700 local children will wake up on Christmas morning with presents under their tree and new winter clothing. According to Captain Gin Pack, the gifts will be awarded to 269 families in the coming days.

“It’s kind of a culmination of what I think makes Lewis County great. It’s just a lot of people working together for the greater good of our community,” Park said. “And this is what happens. We have 7,000 toys to go through.”

According to Pack, the Salvation Army has partnerships with Toys for Tots, Walmart and other local businesses to provide much-needed holiday cheer. Some, she said, are community members who do so without seeking recognition.

“They don’t always want to be named out, but I know who a lot of the donors are,” Pack said. “And it’s truly humbling to see people who say they are invested in the community, elected officials … but then truly show up and make it evident.”

As the organization prepared to begin distribution on Wednesday, Pack said the donated toys would make a lot of people’s Christmas just a little bit more cheery.

“To hear the stories of resilience, and a lot of people, this will make their Christmas,” Pack said. “This is their only option for Christmas assistance, or to make Christmas happen for those families. So it’s really neat to see that.”

The event comes as donations to the Salvation Army’s Red Kettles continue to lag throughout the Northwest. Earlier this month, the Salvation Army said donations had declined by 30% across the region.

“It’s a rough time. As much as people are hurting, people are hurting financially,” Pack said. “So it’s hard to really get donations when it’s not a booming economy.”

Locally, the Lewis County Salvation Army has set a fundraising goal of $85,000, money that will help the organization throughout the year.

The Salvation Army has set a goal to raise $3.9 million this year across the Northwest division, which includes Washington, northern Idaho and western Montana. To learn how to volunteer, or to donate, go to registertoring.com.

According to the Salvation Army, about 86% of donations to the organization go towards programs that directly help those in need.

“We really try to honor that, and know that we’re serving a population of people that really need as much assistance as possible,” Pack said. “But that’s where the Red Kettle money goes to, to things like this. And when we don’t have it, we just scale down, which kind of creates a snowball effect. Because people need it but then we don’t have it.”

The Salvation Army will continue to accept donations at Red Kettles throughout the county through Christmas Eve.