(WSBT) The Elkhart County Red Cross needs your help. Its annual Tree of Hope campaign provides gifts for families in need.

The number of families who need help has tripled this year.

Annette Cooper of Elkhart and her family recently received some assistance from the Red Cross.

Their home was destroyed in a fire in early November. The Red Cross was there right after the fire, and now has listed the family on its Tree of Hope.

The Coopers’ three children have their names on the tree, with gifts listed for them that can be provided by the public.

“My children are the most important thing in my life, and I want them to have as normal a Christmas as possible, and to have a happy one,” Cooper said. “I think with the Red Cross helping us, and the other organizations, that will be possible.”

The Red Cross is reaching out to make the holidays a little bit brighter for ten area families, like the Coopers, who have been victims of fire. But they are also lending a hand to the victims of the recent tornado in Nappanee.

The Red Cross wants to give gifts to at least 40 of those Nappanee families with the Tree of Hope campaign.

“We have about three times the families that we usually help on the tree, because we did add the tornado victims, and we also add any families that have been hit by a fire in November or December,” explained Deb Moore of the Red Cross. “So this will go all the way up to Christmas Eve. If there's a fire, and a local family in Elkhart County, we will add their names to the tree also."

"Words just can't express how much this means to us,” Cooper said. “Without their help, I don't know that the holidays would be possible."

Some businesses have adopted entire families on the Tree of Hope.

For more information, go to the American Red Cross of Elkhart County Website.