THUNDER BAY – The Thunder Bay Christmas Cheer has helped out thousands of families in need over the years.
But they can’t succeed without the generosity of the public.
On Friday the organization, which hands out hampers of food to those who otherwise might go without over the holidays, and joins forces with Toys for Tots to provide Christmas gifts to less fortunate children, launched its 2018 campaign.
Chair Joleene Kemp said they’re trying to be as realistic as possible with this year’s ask.
“We kept our financial target at $116,000. We took a look at all the other charities and we know that it’s a scramble. Everyone has the same dollar and everyone’s looking for a piece of that dollar,” Kemp said. “So what we’ve done is we’ve tried to ensure that we can cover the cost of our turkeys and then we just hope that everything else falls into place.”
Each hamper contains the makings of a Christmas meal, as well as enough food to last about a week. Many local schools hold food drives during the pre-holiday season, providing much of the non-perishable goods used to round out the baskets.
“What we’re trying to do is make sure Christmas is special for families with children. Last year we fed over 8,000 people and we provided gifts for some 3,800 children,” Kemp said. “Our initial read from Ontario Works and the Ontario Disability Support Program is that they’re up anywhere from two to 10 per cent, depending on the day.
“That means our numbers could be a little bit higher than they were last year. We also know there are families that are struggling, they have two or three people working part-time jobs for minimum wage, with no benefits. People have to make choices and with all the hype and excitement around Christmas for mom and dad to look at their children and say, ‘No, you can’t celebrate because you don’t have anything to celebrate.’”
To qualify, families must be living at or below the poverty line and must register by Dec. 14.
Christmas Cheer will hold a 12 Hours of Cheer event from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Canadian Lakehead Exhibition’s Coliseum building, collecting donations from locals schools and anyone else who wishes to drop something off.
“We’re looking for non-perishable food items, whether it be tins of soup, pasta, pasta sauce, rice, cereal, beans, stew, chili, vegetables, fruit, baby food – anything of that nature, anything non-perishable,” Kemp said.
Cash is OK too, she added.
Donations can be made starting Monday at the Christmas Cheer office at the Coliseum building, by texting ‘cheer’ to 20222 between Saturday and Dec. 31 to make a $10 or $20 gift. Monetary donations can also be dropped off at any local Scotiabank branch or at the Chronicle-Journal.
Hampers will be handed out to registered families on Dec. 18 and Dec. 19 at the CLE.
