On wooden pallets in the back of a big warehouse in Kalihi, Irene Nunes stacks toys, household goods, diapers and furniture for families she often only knows by name. As donations pour in, the stacks rise upward and outward, sometimes spilling over onto the floor.

"It's beautiful," she said, waving her arms at the thousands of items donated to Christmas Fund families this year. "That's my present."

Though monetary donations to the fund this year are far below 2005 totals, donations of goods are up slightly, said Nunes, who has run the Community Clearinghouse warehouse for five years.

She can't explain the disparity.

So far this year, some $68,000 has been donated to the Advertiser Christmas fund, which goes to helping needy families year-round.

By this time in 2005, the fund had already topped $100,000.

In addition to giving families a Christmas, with gift cards to low-cost retailers, the fund helps families pay rent or other bills throughout the year. Little goes to operational costs.

Maria Chomyszak, program manager at the Community Clearinghouse, which handles donations to the Christmas Fund, said she has heard no consensus on why monetary donations are down.

But she says every fund family will get something.

"Most of our families have been adopted," she said.

On Friday, Leslie Tanoue pulled her sports utility vehicle up to the warehouse and started unloading bags and bags of donations — clothes, bedspreads, pillows and even a Christmas tree.

"Hopefully somebody will get it in time to decorate it," she said.

Tanoue and her parents are regular donors to the Clearinghouse.

Later in the day, Tanoue was going to drop off bedside tables.

She might even make one more drop before Christmas Day.

"I think this is just a fabulous place," she said, after lugging nearly a dozen bags from her car. "They work directly with families."

A Kapolei couple in their 60s also are regulars at the Clearinghouse, donating thousands of dollars worth of goods every year since 1998.

This year, the couple spent $3,000 on 10 new children's bikes, 24 packs of diapers, dozens of towels and washcloths, and five chests of drawers. The shopping took about a day to complete.

The donors said they spend the money on needy families instead of buying gifts for their adult children. On Christmas Day, the entire family feels a sense of joy out of helping those in need.

At 'Aikahi Elementary School in Kailua on Friday, laundry baskets filled with toys, diapers and clothes for some 25 families were packed into a truck and sent off to the clearinghouse.

'Aikahi has adopted more than 20 Christmas Fund families for the past seven years. Nancy Cullen, a counseling aide at 'Aikahi, said children learn the value of giving through the program.

And, in the affluent community, they also get a better understanding of how some kids are struggling in poverty.

"Some of these kids couldn't get the concept of not having a bed," Cullen said. "That was way off for them."

The Christmas Fund has been around for more than half a century. Every day through Christmas Eve, the Advertiser profiles families in need, detailing their daily struggles and their Christmas wishes.

Families will start picking up donated items at the Clearinghouse tomorrow. Pick-ups will continue through the week.

RECENT DONATIONS TO THE ADVERTISER CHRISTMAS FUND

Raquel Chan Ikeda and Alvin Ikeda — $500

Philip and Carol Ann Au — $250
Robert and Christine Estes — $250
Ross and Mari — $200
Barbara Ann Grimm, in loving memory of my son Bruce E. Grimm — $150
Segundo and Eloisa Cruz — $100
Mabel Garduque, in memory of "Big Papa," Capt. Gabriel, Remedious and Marcus Garduque — $100
Isaac and Dana Hall, in memory of Isaac D. Hall Sr. and Daniel L. Naone Jr. — $100
Sharon and Virgil Hughes — $100
Sharon Kaya, in memory of Shoji Kaya — $100
Louise Kojima — $100
Hang Hin Lee Lau, in memory of Hoy Lau — $100
Hang Hin Lee Lau, in memory of M/M Wai Bun and Wai Ching Lee — $100
David and Shirley Liu — $100
Jenna and Micah Morikuni — $100
Lianne Blas — $50
Harriet Ho — $50
Watson and Doris Li — $50
Sarah and Edmund Mitchell — $50
Chris and Chelsea Murata — $50
Lucy and Keiki Pang — $50
Jimmy and Nancy Brede — $25
George and Gayle Hirose — $25
David and Lisa Kritz — $25
Michael Kurch — $25
Robert Murray — $25
Mary Boyd, in memory of Art and Myra — $20
Roy Shigemura — $20
Anonymous, in memory of Joseph and Flora Lau — $125
Anonymous, in memory of Carl Viti — $100
Anonymous, in loving memory of Francie and Lani Thomas — $50
Anonymous — $25
Anonymous — $10

Total $3,125
Previous total $65,358.34
Total to date $68,483.34

Reach Mary Vorsino at mvorsino@honoluluadvertiser.com.