Valley Santa, a program that relies on donations to purchase Christmas gifts for thousands of children in need throughout Luzerne County, is kicking off its 36th year.

Volunteers are needed to shop for gifts at Boscov’s beginning at 7:30 a.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays; wrap gifts at Boscov’s beginning at 5:30 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and to read letters from families in need at 7 p.m. Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays at the Greenhouse Center, 92 S. Franklin St., Wilkes-Barre.

Valley Santa is sponsored by The Citizens’ Voice and Standard-Speaker newspapers, the city of Wilkes-Barre, Boscov’s and M&T Bank.

Help Line coordinates the volunteers. To sign up to volunteer, people can go to helpline-nepa.info/news/index.htm, read the directions and then pick which group they want to volunteer for. They can also call Help Line at 570-829-1341 or just dial 211.