Nursing home employees Lynette Adams (left) and Joseph Dias load Share Your Christmas gifts for home residents. This year, every Share Your Christmas wish was fulfilled through donations. Bob Linder / News-Leader

Share Your CHRISTMAS

And soon, an 11-year-old girl will have braces.

Those wishes, and all the others from the Share Your Christmas program, have been granted, thanks to the generosity of people throughout the Ozarks.

"Everybody got adopted," said Pam Copling, director of the Holiday Center, which coordinates the program with the News-Leader. Since Thanksgiving, 42 cases have been profiled in the newspaper, with stories explaining the situation and wishes of families and nursing-home residents while allowing them to remain anonymous.

"We took hundreds of phone calls" for the Share Your Christmas cases, said Copling. Individuals, families and groups adopted cases. "They offered to help in a variety of ways," she said. Some purchased gifts, some gave money and some provided gift certificates.

Items not provided through direct donations were purchased with monetary donations, she said. "All the families' needs were provided for ..., and we were able to help a lot more families."

Copling said the families featured have all either experienced "horrible circumstances or great strides" in their lives.

While Christmas gifts for children are an important part of the program, many of the fulfilled wishes will have a longer impact.

In the case of the pre-teen girl who received braces, her teeth are so crooked and her overbite so severe that she is unable to speak correctly. Her parents only wanted her to smile again.

"The orthodontists came out in droves for her," said Nicole Howland, who volunteers each year to work for the Holiday Center. Dentists and oral surgeons also offered their help, she said.

Another case included a mom who also needed dental work. Two dentists called to offer their help to her.

"Some of the things we provide for (the families) don't just make a difference at Christmas, but for a long time to come," Copling said.

Between Nov. 26 and Dec. 11, three cases were featured daily in the News-Leader. Eleven were residents of an area nursing home. Donors who want to visit a resident were encouraged to send along a card with their name and phone number or address so the resident could contact them.

"That way, it puts the patient in power," she said.

Three employees of the nursing home arrived Monday morning to pick up the more than five shopping carts filled with gifts for the residents, along with a bag of cards and letters.

"This means that we've got a lot of things to give to a lot of people," said Tony Kriner, the home's administrator. Many of the residents have no family or are seldom visited, he said.

The Share Your Christmas residents were given their gifts at a holiday party Monday afternoon.

"They had a wonderful time," said Lynette Adams, activities director. "Some of them cried."

The woman who received the new dress also received a note with an offer to make her another one, she said.

The extra items will be distributed this week.

"We'll make sure everyone gets a gift," said Adams. "It's gonna be Christmas all over again."