Everyone in the community is invited to help make Christmas a wonderful time for a lot of hospitalized veterans and their families. This time of year can be so sad for someone in a nursing facility or a hospital who cannot get out to shop for their loved ones, so the American Legion Auxiliary sets up annual holiday gift shops at veteran’s hospitals all over the country.

To help, American Legion Auxiliary South Whidbey Unit 141 is collecting new, unwrapped gifts suitable for all ages through Dec. 10 for the Retsil facility in Port Orchard.

Suggested gifts include gloves, slippers, robes, hats, socks, books, puzzles, toys, and sweaters of all sizes.

The auxiliary is also collecting new “Sweats for Vets” so that hospitalized veterans can enjoy a new set of sweats on Christmas morning.

Donations can be dropped off at the American Legion Post on Highway 525. Call 321-5696 for more information.