The Christmas Cheer Fund hasn’t set a higher goal in 2011, but they would like to collect about $21,000 more than they did a year ago.
The organization, which provides a week’s worth of food for families in need in the week leading up to Christmas, fell that far short of their $160,000 goal in 2010, and chairwoman Linda Gambee said it meant a little belt-tightening to ensure no one went without.
“It’s going to be a huge undertaking, given that we didn’t reach that goal last year,” she said. “We were short by about $21,000. Last year we had to dip into our reserves to cover our shortfall for our food.”
Knowing how tough it is to raise money at Christmas, with so many other charities looking for donations from a rapidly decreasing pool of money, Gambee said for the first time in the organization’s history they’ve had to take up fundraising at other times of the year.
“We’ve had to entertain a lot of different fundraising ideas. We’ve gone to bingos and those types of things, so we can raise a little bit extra money,” Gambee said.
She added in the past they’ve set a goal that wasn’t really reflective of the money being spent. Last year, for example, they spent $26,000 more on food than they had budgeted for, $47,000 more than they collected.
The need just keeps growing, Gambee said.
“In the past we’d look at it and say what do we think we could raise,” she said. “So we’ve never really had a true value on what we do. We always spend at least $160,000.”
It’s all about children in need, the parents are just along for the ride, Gambee said on Friday, at the official launch of the 2011 campaign.
“it means they can have something extra at Christmas. If we can provide a week’s worth of groceries, that means if the family has a little bit extra money maybe than can go out and buy them an extra gift,” she said.
“Toys for Tots also provides money where we purchase the toys. I’ve always said kids don’t go back to school after Christmas and say, ‘Guess what we had to eat.’ It’s ‘Guess what we got for Christmas,’ so that’s an important part of it as well.”
The food will also be healthier this year, with bags of carrots and apples provided in each hamper. Costlier items, like crackers, have been cut out in consideration of the overall budget.
Rosena Halvorsen of the Salvation Army said far too many children would go without gifts if organizations like Christmas Cheer didn’t exist.
That’s why it’s so important to dig a little deeper this year, she said, imploring those in a position to do to, to make a donation.
“I think the selling point is that every little bit counts. You might say to me you don’t have a lot to give, but if you’ve got $5 or $2, if you times that by 10 people, that multiplies. Sometimes it’s not the big giving, it’s the small ones that count as well,” Halvorsen said.
Donations of non-perishable food items are being accepted at all public libraries in Thunder Bay, the Christmas Cheer Fund office in the CLE’s Coliseum building and both Quality Market locations. Donations may also be sent to P.O. Box 10297, Thunder Bay, Ont., P7B 6T7.
The deadline to apply for a hamper is Dec. 12 at noon, and Gambee noted there won’t be a waiting list established this year.
