THUNDER BAY – Christmas Cheer has dropped its 2017 target by 10,000 over last year – and the charity is making it even easier for people to make a donation.
Joleene Kemp, the organization’s chair, said they lowered their goal to $116,000 partly to help other food-based campaigns succeed and partially because they have found efficiencies that mean they don’t need to spend as much money this year.
“We recognize how many other charities, in particular food banks and other organizations, are trying to raise money at this time,” Kemp said on Friday at the launch of this year’s Christmas Cheer campaign.
“We took a look at how much our grocery bill was last year, how much the bill was for bringing in all of the hampers, purchasing bags, which are basically our costs. We decided we could cut it $10,000 because our food liaison was able to strike some really good deals for us.”
Each year Christmas Cheer provides hampers containing a week’s worth of food, as well as toys for children through the Thunder Bay Professional Firefighters Toys for Tots campaign.
Kemp said the organization has to show the public it can do more with less.
They’ve also found added help in the local school system.
“They talked about how they were getting their programs started earlier and we’re anticipating really powerful numbers from our schools,” Kemp said.
“We’ve also expanded to the arenas, to the public libraries. Those are sites that we didn’t have last year. Those are locations where people who don’t have children in the system can donate and we really think it will help.”
To ease the donation process, Christmas Cheer officials have partnered with Tbaytel to set up a method of donating through one’s smart phone.
“You text 20222 and then in the message box you text CHEER. You press send and a message will come back asking if you wish to donate $10 to Christmas Cheer. You say yes and it automatically goes to your phone bill,” Kemp said.
Christmas Cheer will also be holding a donation blitz on Dec. 18 at the CLE Coliseum. Donations may be made until Dec. 20. Non-perishable goods can also be dropped off at any branch of the Thunder Bay Public Library, who will wipe out $1 of library fines for each item given.
Donations can also be dropped off at any Scotiabank location in Thunder Bay, at the Chronicle Journal or at the Christmas Cheer’s CLE offices.
Hampers will be given out on Dec. 19 and Dec. 20.
For more information, visit www.thunderbaychristmascheer.com.
