By Melissa Dunson

mdunson@joplinglobe.com

By wrapping a few gifts at Northpark Mall this Christmas season, the Joplin Jaycees are hoping some area special needs children will get to unwrap some big summer memories next year.

Mary Romero, 2009 president-elect of the Joplin Jaycees, said the group is taking on its largest fund-raising effort in years by tackling both the coat-check and gift-wrap stations through Christmas Eve at the local mall. Romero said the volunteer group is hoping to raise $5,000 by Christmas and that money will be used to fund several community service projects next year, including projects to Wonderland Camp, a summer camp near Lake of the Ozarks for special-needs children, and the Jaycees Bologna Fling that helps pay for the Special Olympics staged every year at Missouri Southern State University in Joplin.

“At (Wonderland) camp, they have things like a tree house with a lift for kids in wheelchairs,” Romero said. “We take some things for granted, but many of these kids never see anything higher than everyone else’s waists. At Wonderland they can go up to the tree level and look out.”

Friday was the first day of the fund-raiser as shoppers took to the mall for Black Friday sales, but Romero said business was very slow at the Jaycees booth, and she hopes local shoppers will take advantage of the gift-wrap service for a good cause.

“I think everybody just has tunnel vision today,” Romero said Friday. “I’m expecting it to pick up.”

The Jaycees’ gift-wrap station is located near the mall’s main entrance, in front of the men’s Macy’s store. Coat check with a receipt is available for $1 an item, and gift wrapping is available for $3 to $15 depending on the object’s size and the desired style.

Romero said the Jaycees also have a place for people to make donations and will have information about the nonprofit group available at the booth.

As an incentive to shop early and visit the booths, the Jaycees are offering $2 off the total wrapping cost this weekend.

Some of the other projects that the gift-wrapping money will go to include the Jaycees’ “Gone In 60 Seconds” Easter egg hunt where more than 200 area children race to gather more than 1,000 Easter eggs in less than a minute, and Access Day to the Fair where Jaycees take children in group homes to the state fair.

Service projects

The Jaycees, also known as the Junior Chamber of Commerce, is a nonprofit organization that instills leadership values in those ages 18 to 41 through community service projects and training programs. The Joplin Jaycees has about 40 members, according to Mary Romero, Joplin Jaycees 2009 president-elect.