WARSAW — As cold weather approaches, many people in the community will find themselves in need. With the upcoming holiday season, local organizations have several ways area families and individuals can seek assistance.

Combined Community Services, Warsaw, has a list of programs going on now. Director of Emergency Assistance, Peggi Lisenbee-Wright, noted that Thanksgiving baskets are still available. Anybody wishing to obtain one needs to go to the CCS office in person. Lisenbee-Wright added that the baskets are going quickly and could be gone by the end of this week.

At the start of this year’s program, more than 100 baskets had been donated to CCS.

The annual adopt a family is currently full and, according to Lisenbee-Wright, will remain closed until the 148 families already on the list are “adopted.” She called on members of the community to consider adopting a local family in need by picking a list off of a tree and shopping for that family. Names of families are kept confidential.

The annual toy consignment sale and giveaway is still in the planning stages, but those wishing to help out now can do so by going through and choosing gently used toys to sell. Those who consign toys receive a portion of the money earned and CCS uses the rest. Toys not sold are donated to the toy giveaway, along with new toys purchased with funds from the sale.

The event gives parents a chance to choose new and used gifts for their children who may not otherwise receive gifts at Christmas.

CCS has also partnered with NIPSCO to refer residents who are in need of energy assistance this winter. There are different types of assistance available based on level of need.

For more information on Combined Community Services, visit their website.

Other Programs Available

The Salvation Army is hosting its annual Angel Tree program. Signup runs through Nov. 20. Application guidelines are available online. For more information about Salvation Army programs, visit the “services and programs” page on the organization’s website.