It’s that time of the season again for a giving tradition 70 years in the making.

The Salisbury Post’s Christmas Happiness Drive will once more begin taking donations this week.

From the $1,811.41 raised in the first year the Christmas Happiness fund was created nearly 70 years ago to last year’s $39,566.78, more joy has been spread to children who may not have been able to enjoy the holidays as happily in Rowan County.

The drive began when then-Salisbury Post Editor Spencer Murphy asked readers in an editorial to help children receive gifts for Christmas and readers have been responding ever since. The Post collects money from the community before passing donations along to the Rowan chapter of the Salvation Army, which distributes the funds. Any donations received after Christmas are used to start next year’s fund.

Donors can use the opportunity to name a person or persons to be memorialized by their gift. Throughout the drive, the Salisbury Post will highlight various contributors’ causes and those who they memorialize. Please consider taking this opportunity to honor a loved one and make a difference in the lives of lower-income families in Rowan County, so that they can give their children a Christmas worth remembering.

Contributions may be dropped off at the mail slot or inside the Salisbury Post’s office, located at 131 W. Innes St. Salisbury. You can also mail them to:

Christmas Happiness Fund c/o Salisbury Post

PO Box 4639, Salisbury, NC 28145

Recipients register in advance through the Rowan County Christmas Bureau, which hosts an application drive where families apply for multiple programs. Visit www.facebook.com/RowanCountyChristmasBureau/