Last modified: Monday, October 22, 2007 12:08 AM EDT Gift drive gearing up BY JANETTE SEARS SUN CHRONICLE STAFF Christmas may be more than two months away, but the Attleboro Area Council for Children has already been busy getting ready for its 24th annual Christmas Is For Kids program. For those parents who wish to have their children be recipients of the gift drive, applications must be completed and returned to the Council for Children by Nov. 9. Applications are available at several locations listed in the fact box accompanying this article. With the help of ongoing support from the community, the council is well on its way to making Christmas a little brighter this year for hundreds of area children, as it does every year. The Blackstone Valley Harley Owners Group will kick it all off on Sunday, Nov. 4, by making its annual toy run, and other groups also have planned toy drives, such as the Attleboro Area Chamber of Commerce. Nancy Young, the owner of Attleboro Jewelry Makers, has donated the space for this year's drive, since the council has not yet been able to secure a permanent space of its own. The space, which will serve as the donor center for the drive, is located at 35 County St. in Attleboro, which is the same building as Attleboro Jewelry Makers and the Women at Work Museum. The door to the donor center is on Riverbank Road. When the drive actually gets under way in December, volunteer "elves" will once again be the backbone of the drive, from answering donor line phone calls to matching donors with children, to checking off donated gifts to making sure each child's wish list is complete. For anyone who might like to be a volunteer, "elf" training is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 14 at the donor center, and according to Kelly Fox, president of the Council for Children, elves and other community support will be needed. "We've had several groups contact us already," Fox said. "They want to help with volunteers or by adopting several children, but if the number of calls we've already received from anxious parents looking for the application is any indication of the number of applicants, we're going to need a lot of help from the community." The Council for Children is a volunteer organization dedicated to providing year-round programs and educational support to enrich the lives of children in need. Janette Sears can be reached by phone or fax at 508-222-2442 or by e-mail at janette@janettesears.com.