THUNDER BAY -- Hundreds of volunteers have begun descending on the C.L.E. Grounds to accept donations for Christmas Cheer and organize hampers for the holidays.
Some formed a chain to pass down the $75,000 in non-perishable food items that came in on Sunday. Others laid out items on tables to be sorted.
In the tradition of the season, there were literally volunteers with lists checking toy orders -- presumably checking them twice.
More than 100 volunteers flooded the Coliseum Building on Saturday, 150 made it on Sunday and as the goods keep rolling in, those numbers will increase. Christmas Cheer is expecting between 200 and 250 people on Monday and when the hampers are being shipped on Tuesday and Wednesday, the effort will peak at between 300 and 400 volunteers per day.
"We’ve shortened the amount of time they volunteer for because so many people want to come and help at Christmas Cheer that we thought we should do as many volunteers as we can," said Thunder Bay Christmas Cheer chair Joleene Kemp, adding a waiting list is already being assembled for next year.
"We have two rules for volunteering at Christmas Cheer. One is that you smile the whole time you’re here and two, if you decide you want to have that hissy moment, you go outside and have that hissy moment and come back in because we have only kindness and joy in this particular room."
Volunteer time is only one of the ways Thunder Bay has been giving. The estimated $75,000 in non-perishable food donations dwarfs Christmas Cheer's 2014 totals and food children have collected at schools have yet to arrive. Fresh produce is expected to arrive on Monday.
One anonymous person left a receipt in one of the grocery bags that showed they had purchased $600 worth of food for those less fortunate.
Cash donations have also exceeded expectations. Locals have donated $9,000, which can be stretched into nearly double its value, Kemp said, when purchasing in bulk and removing "middle man" commerce.
"We anticipate we’ll meet our target by the very end because of the generosity -- and because we lowered our targets -- so we’re good to go," she joked.
