With the holidays quickly approaching, Tomball Emergency Assistance Ministries (TEAM) is ramping up its efforts to help those in need.

TEAM will be handing out more than 150 Thanksgiving dinners the week of Nov. 21, and is now signing up families and senior citizens who would like assistance for Christmas, according to Loma Holmes, Director of TEAM.

“We are signing up families now and we already have more than 50,” Holmes said.

The assistance will include a meal and Christmas gifts for children.

TEAM was founded in 1986 and 13 Tomball area churches are affiliated with the aid organization, which is privately funded through donations and accepts no public money. The charity also has a resale shop which supplements its funding activities.

Holmes said the agency is in need of donations, as well as organizations and individuals willing to adopt a needy family for the holidays. With the economy still lagging and permanent work hard to find, Holmes said she expects to have more families asking for help this year.

“We need the community to donate or hold toy drives or come and adopt one of the families,” she said. “We already have had lines outside waiting to sign up on the days we have been open”

Nearly 30 percent of all families in Harris County now live below federal poverty guidelines, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau−nearly double what they were in 2000.

H.E.B. will be holding a matching food drive for TEAM, Dec. 2-4. For every eligible item purchased for TEAM by store patrons, H.E.B. will match the purchase. Holmes also said corporate sponsors are a big help. Companies like Fred Haas Toyota, LCP Drilling Consultants, Inline Utilities and Dr. Rodney Hutson have stepped up already, according to Holmes.

Families who sign up list their children and can request a gift for each one on the form. Some of the most needed items that the organization lacks at Christmas are gifts for teens.

“We are always short on teen gifts,” she said.

Families are eligible for Christmas assistance if they have received some type of assistance from TEAM in the past. Requestors must reside in the Tomball ISD school district or be a member of one of TEAM’s sponsor churches.

TEAM is open every Tuesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The resale shop is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Call 281-351-6700 for more information.

Photo by Caleb Harris

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