FAIRLAWN — St. Nicholas is making sure those in need will be able to celebrate the holidays this year, thanks to a little help from area volunteers.

The volunteers work through Project St. Nicholas Returns (PSNR) Inc., a 14-year-old nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that provides assistance to individuals, families and children, and organizations that do the same, in Summit and Stark counties. The organization works under the basic premise of the “Golden Rule” — treat others how you would want to be treated. 

“We answer unselfish Christmas letters written to Santa,” said Jeff Reale, an associate of the Belden Village Concorde Therapy Group, which created the organization. “We do not search out acknowledgement; we find reward in the act of giving and helping others.”

Reale, a resident of Green, explained the group responds to letters such as one in which a daughter asked for help for her mother, who was dying from cancer, and another where a child in need had given up believing in St. Nicholas — that is, until he arrived at the door with help, courtesy of PSNR.

The organization’s board selects those who are to receive help through referrals and responds to those in need year around, but mainly at Christmas time. According to the organization’s Web site, in 1994, its first year, the PSNR raised $400 and was able to respond to three letters for help. By 2005, the group had raised more than $296,000 and distributed almost $281,000.

The group prefers to remain anonymous in its efforts and delivers assistance dressed as St. Nick and elves. Those efforts often come full circle, according to Reale.

He explained one family in which both the husband and wife had been laid off recently received $300 in gift cards. The wife came back one week later to report she had been reinstated in her job and received back pay, and had come to return $300, acknowledging that there were other families in greater need.

“We like to help those who are going through hard times,” Reale said. “We often get a return from recipients when they become better situated.”

The group, which consists of about 30 to 40 volunteers, raises funds through donations and special events, such as its annual dinner and auction. This year, the “Fall Into the Spirit of Giving” fund-raiser is set for Nov. 15 from 6 to 10 p.m. at St. George Fellowship Hall, 3204 Ridgewood Road.

The event will include dinner and oral and silent auctions on items such as a four-day, three-night Montreal vacation, a backyard barbecue for 25 friends, front-row seats to a Pittsburgh Penguins hockey game, celebrity and sports memorabilia, gift certificates, arts and crafts, entertainment tickets, as well as more than 20 large theme baskets that will be raffled off through sales of $1 tickets.

Tickets to attend the event are $25 per person and will be available at the door. Sponsorships, in gold ($500), frankincense ($250) and myrrh ($100) categories, also are available.

For more details about the group, how to make a donation or a referral, or to volunteer, visit psnr.org/index.html or call Reale at (330) 493-8034, ext. 7, and leave a message.