BELOIT — Salvation Army volunteers and staff are working overtime again this year making sure that Stateline-area residents have a traditional meal and presents under the tree this Christmas.

Cris Hornagold, a case manager for the Salvation Army, has helped with the Christmas baskets and toy collections since she began working for the organization.

“I’ve been here 17 years, and they did it prior to that,” she said.

Needy families sign up in November for the baskets and the chance to pick out presents. Baskets were distributed this weekend; volunteers worked throughout the previous week to assemble the Christmas dinners. Starting Dec. 8, Stateline Boy Scout and Cub Scout troops collected donations of food from area residents, and volunteer groups from Alcoa Corp., the Young Marines and others helped sort the items.

Volunteers Louise Leonhardt of Roscoe and Anita Whedon of South Beloit said they know the work they do is essential to the Salvation Army.

“We’re regular volunteers,” Whedon said Monday as she prepared items for food baskets. “When you think about what you have and how little other people have, it’s a moral obligation (to help).”

Hornagold said that 338 of the baskets are for individuals; twice that number go to families (see related graphic). In a typical family basket for four to six people, there is a box of potatoes, eight cans of vegetables, four cans of fruit, Ramen noodles, cake, gravy, pie filling, macaroni, milk, bread and a ham.

“People are generally pretty happy,” Hornagold said of the reaction of recipients when they pick up their baskets.

Because donations to the Salvation Army food pantry have been down this year, Hornagold said that any food left after the baskets have been distributed goes to the pantry.

Over the past few weeks, dozens of area businesses have served as “angel sites” — places with Christmas trees where people can drop off toys and presents for children age 12 and younger. The Salvation Army gathers the toys and on Thursday, parents will be able to pick out presents for their children.

“I think it’s important to allow families that maybe are struggling or trying to make ends meet, to take some of that stress off them during the holidays,” Hornagold said.

She added the organization is grateful to all the businesses that serve as collection sites. Some of the biggest contributors are ABC Supply, Alcoa, Bryden Motors, Beloit Memorial Hospital, First American Credit Union and the YMCA.

“We couldn’t do it without the staff and the volunteers, and the community support,” Hornagold said.

Over the years, she has met people who recalled Christmases when the only present they received came from Salvation Army.

“For a percentage of the people who come here, this is the only gift they have,” she said.

While the holiday season is not the only time the Salvation Army reaches out to needy families, Hornagold said it is the time of year when she is reminded of why she does what she does.

“You go all year helping, and at Christmastime it puts the joy back into your heart,” she said. “It’s times like this, it’s like ‘this is why I work at Salvation Army.’”