BATON ROUGE - With life beginning to return to a pre-pandemic state, the Salvation Army is preparing for the busiest holiday season yet. 

"We are moving into post-COVID mode," said Major Donald Tekautz with the Salvation Army of Baton Rouge. "We're not requiring people to be vaccinated or wear a mask." 

Masks were required last year, but Tekautz says it's time to get back to normal as COVID appears to be coming under control in Louisiana. For volunteers with concerns, accommodations will be made.

"If they want to work by themselves in an area we can give them that if they want some distance. For the most part, I think we can work around the fears that people have," Tekautz said.

Amid a labor shortage and the holidays quickly approaching, they are in desperate need of volunteers. 

“We need volunteers, we need staff. We’re like everybody else. We’ve got openings in our store and my staff here. So we’re in desperate need of volunteers for bell ringing, for working Angel Tree," Tekautz said. 

The need for donations, also higher this year as families displaced from hurricane Ida are still struggling to make ends meet. 

“We’re up about 25% with the number of children we’re going to help this year. Last year, it was about 2500 children get toys for Christmas, we’re well over 3,000 children for Christmas this year," Tekautz said.

Anyone interested in helping the Salvation Army can find more information here.