The Hilltown Christmas will be on December 14 this year.

Next month will be its 36th year.

Families who sign up will be able to make an appointment to pick out toys, and leave with 50 gallon bags of gifts, plus a Walmart card, and a raffle ticket for big items.

“We recently had a family get burned out in Guilderland, we recently had a family get burned out in New Scotland just this week,” said Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple. “We try to target the families that really need it, need the assistance, are down and out for some reason or another.”

People have been donating for a while. There are collection boxes throughout the area.

There are also big sponsors, like Jimco Painting.

If the first 24 hours of sign-up are any indication, they’ll get more families than usual this year.

“This started way back with deputies chipping in to buy one family some Christmas gifts,” said the sheriff. “Every year it just expanded exponentially. Last year we had a few hundred kids. This year, it was announced yesterday and as of about an hour ago, it’s got 67 families and 165 kids have already signed up.”

The sheer size of the event shows the generosity of this community.

People want to see children smile, see their excitement about Christmas.

Some families are struggling right now. Prices are up, and the sheriff and his elves don’t want that to affect the little ones.

“We want to try to fill that void and make sure that every kid on Christmas morning has something to wake up to.”

The Hilltown Christmas will be December 14 at the Clarksville Public Safety Building at 58 Verda Lane.

To reserve a time slot, you can call 518-487-5440.