VIDALIA — What would Christmas morning be like for a child if they woke up and had no Christmas presents?

The Concordia Christmas Charity Fund has been working to make sure that doesn’t happen for the last 19 years, and this Christmas is no exception.

The fund, currently sponsored by the Ferriday Chamber of Commerce, was started in 1988 after a holiday scam, fund co-chair Dorothy Parker said.

“Some people came into town and were supposedly collecting money to buy toys and then skipped town,” she said.

“There is a need to help the less fortunate families in the area who don’t have the money to buy toys for Christmas,” fund co-chair Tommy Massey said.

The fund collects donations at the Concordia Parish branches of Concordia, Delta and Tensas banks.

Giving to the fund is simple, Massey said.

“All they have to do is make a deposit in the bank account set up for the fund,” he said.

Once all of the donations are collected, those working with the fund go to Wal-Mart and give the store a list of the toys they want, Massey said.

Some older children will receive gift certificates, and bicycles repaired through the Concordia Parish Sheriff’s Office’s Christmas bicycle program will also be distributed through the program.

Applications to be considered for participation in the fund can be picked up at the Vidalia and Ferriday city halls, and can be turned in at any of the banks before Dec. 14.

The Office of Family Support screens all of the applications, Massey said.

The distribution will be Dec. 22 from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m.