More to Cheer about

Christmas Cheer fell short of its fundraising goal in 2010, but no one went away hungry, says the organization’s campaign chair.

Linda Gambee on Friday said a last-ditch public plea showed there’s plenty of Christmas spirit left in Thunder Bay.

“It turned out to be wonderful. In the last couple of days we went from having only about 50 per cent of the food we needed to well over the top. The hampers were all quite healthy,” Gambee said. “We’re pleased to say we gave out well over 3,000 hampers and we fed over 7,000 people, which is quite an undertaking, especially when we weren’t sure where we were four days ago.”

Long a staple of the Thunder Bay holiday season, Christmas Cheer provides a week’s worth of food to the city’s less fortunate families, along with presents for children in partnership with Toys for Tots.

“Four days ago we were only at $44,000 financially, but I’m quite excited to say we’re now at $110,000. We’re still short of our goal by about $55,000, but I think we’ll make it.”

People can still donate to Christmas Cheer throughout December and into the new year, Gambee said. Donations may be made at any Thunder Bay Scotiabank branch or at either Quality Market location in the city.

Gambee, expressing excitement at the outpouring from the community, gave a nod to local media for spreading the word about their less than ideal situation earlier this week.

“It’s hard for us to get the word out. For us it’s mouth-to-mouth. But when it can get out to the number of people who live in our community, it’s great. People are busy and when they heard that we needed their help they just came out in droves,” she said.

“Truckloads of food came in the last couple of days. And we took in $60,000 over a four-day period. It makes me feel great. I’ve always believed in the community and I’ve always said that. I still do, but you always aren’t quite sure and we’re just really, really happy it’s turned out the way it did.”