On December 6, Vitebsk /Olga Bogacheva - BELTA/. Approximately 800 trade facilities in the Vitebsk region will extend their operating hours during the New Year holidays, the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee's Trade and Services Department informed a BELTA correspondent. By the onset of the first winter month, all trade facilities in the region had taken care to create a festive atmosphere by decorating their shop windows and sales floors. Since December 1, the season of pre-New Year fairs and sales of goods at reduced prices has begun, with the participation of trade, industrial, public catering, and service enterprises. Also, throughout the month, 230 promotional events with gifts and souvenirs are planned, and 200 fairs for the sale of food and non-food products will be held in cities and district centers. To enhance operational efficiency and public service, 800 trade enterprises and 230 public catering facilities, including cafes and restaurants, will extend their operating hours for the holiday period. Customers will be pleasantly surprised by the variety of the New Year's assortment. In order to maximally satisfy consumer demand, stocks of key New Year's items – champagne, confectionery, and gift sets – have been made in advance. Currently, shops offer more than 10 types of New Year's gifts and a wide range of confectionery products, which will be replenished with items featuring New Year's themes from the RUPP "Vitebskhleboprom" enterprises just before the holidays. The variety of sections with Christmas tree decorations, carnival costumes, artificial Christmas trees, souvenirs, and other New Year's products is pleasing to the eye. Many trade enterprises have supported charity events during this period. For example, in the regional center, the "Evikom" shopping complex, the new indoor pavilion of the Smolensk Market, and the "Yevroopt" store on Moskovsky Prospekt have joined the "New Year's Tree of Wishes" campaign, organized for 70 pupils of the Vitebsk Children's Home by the October District Organization (Vitebsk) of the Belarusian Red Cross Society. Instead of toys, the Christmas trees installed in these shopping centers display photographs of children with inscriptions of their desired gifts. Any visitor can help fulfill a child's dream or donate a portion of their finances towards it. The collected funds will be used to purchase gifts, which will be handed over to the children's home by volunteers and representatives of trade facilities on New Year's Eve. -0-