Gwinnett Daily Post

NORCROSS -- Norcross officials want their residents to get into the giving spirit.

The city is organizing a stop in the 2009 Mayors' Christmas Motorcade, collecting clothing, stationery and more.

The tradition was first organized by then-Gov. Ernest Vandiver in 1958 as a program of the Georgia Municipal Association to celebrate Christmas by providing patients of Georgia's mental health and retardation hospitals with a gift.

According to a press release, many of the patients, most of whom are adults, would go without any presents for Christmas without the donations.

New and unwrapped gifts -- from toothpaste and shaving lotion to PG or G rated movies, board games and baseball caps -- are welcome. And the wrapping paper, ribbons and bows are also needed.

The donations should be delivered Monday to the city's code enforcement office on the second floor of City Hall at 65 Lawrenceville St.

If you live in the city limits, you can call Monday and a staffer will pick up the presents, which will be delivered on Wednesday.