Rebekah Wolfkill, right, watches her eight-year-old grandson, DJ Cole, pick up a bag to fill with toys in McMurran Hall on Friday.

SHEPHERDSTOWN — With the approach of the holiday season every year, Shepherdstown Shares begins preparing, to make sure every local family in need has a wonderful Christmas together.

For Shepherdstown Shares, doing so means ensuring that all of the clients from its food pantry are given what they will need to have a traditional Christmas dinner and, additionally, ensuring that the clients’ children will receive Christmas presents.

Two years ago, Shepherdstown Shares volunteer Mary Beth Kilmer created a free, gift-shopping experience for Shepherdstown Shares Food Pantry’s clients. Each client was free to pick as many as six gifts for each of their children, from the items donated to Shepherdstown Shares.

“If they can’t afford food, you’ve got to know they don’t have money for toys to buy for their kids,” Kilmer said of the reason for the initiative.

This year, the amount of donations is being expanded, through the leadership of Shepherdstown resident Judy Shepherd. Shepherd, who helps with the Santa Claus meet-and-greet in McMurran Hall at the end of the kickoff to Christmas in Shepherdstown, purchased 80 bags from TJ Maxx and encouraged the children visiting Santa Claus to consider taking one home with them.

“They can fill them with their used toys, because they’ll soon be getting new ones from Santa. We’re then going to give them to the people at Shepherdstown Shares, for the food-insecure people to shop from when they come to get their food,” Shepherd said.

Shepherd noted the toys that the children are being asked to donate, are those that are in like-new condition, so they can be given as gifts.

“Santa thinks it’s important that they learn how to share! So they’ll go home and look through their toy box and, if there’s something that’s still useable that they don’t play with anymore, they’re going to put it in the bag,” Shepherd said. “The bags will then be able to be dropped off on Sundays at the food pantry.”

Santa Claus piped up in agreement from his chair. He noted that the initiative also nicely fit in with some of his requirements for children to make it onto the Nice List.

“One of my standard Santa questions is, ‘Are you behaving and doing your schoolwork and keeping your room clean?’ We had a girl come through today who said, ‘Well, my princess room isn’t, but my bedroom is.’ Her mom said, ‘The princess room is where she keeps all of her toys.’ Here’s a kid that has a whole room, just dedicated to holding toys!” Santa said. “I hope they took a bag!”

One child who did take a bag, was eight-year-old DJ Cole, who came with his grandmother, Rebekah Wolfkill, to see Santa.

“I have a bunch of toys that I don’t play with in my grandmother’s house, so we’re going to put them in the bag,” Cole said.

Wolfkill said she was proud of her grandson for wanting to help the less fortunate.

“DJ has a friend next door, who he gives some of his stuff to, because he doesn’t have a lot. DJ’s mom helps him get clothes for him, too,” Wolfkill said, mentioning parents need to lead by example, when teaching their children how to share and care for the needs of others. “This is what Christmas is all about! It’s not just about Santa Claus and getting presents.”