THUNDER BAY -- More than 900 people registered for a Christmas hamper with the Regional Food Distribution Association last year.
With the huge response, the organization is again offering the holiday hampers to singles, seniors and couples – people excluded from Christmas Cheer, which focuses on families with children.
“Our mandate is to let no one go hungry,” said Brendan Carlin, administrative coordinator at the RFDA.
“With the holiday season there are all sorts of choices people have to make whether they be for presents or social events and all sorts of things. We want to ease that burden just a little bit to help people out.”
The hampers contain items like apples, oranges, margarine, tea, a ham and holiday staples like candy canes.
“Little festive items people can use to make a Christmas meal or a holiday meal,” said Carlin.
Last December, the RFDA had about 60 volunteers come out over two nights to fill the hampers and bake cookies.
“So there was something homemade in each of those hampers which is something special we can do at Christmastime,” said volunteer coordinator Sharla Brown.
Anyone interested in volunteering for stuffing the hampers and baking cookies on Dec. 8 and 9 can check out the Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/events/943320815696212/) or call Carlin at the RFDA.
Volunteering is important to Brown, especially at this time of year.
“Christmas is a time of year where it’s a way of being able to give,” she said.
“Sometimes you think of what am I going to get for Christmas, but I always think of it as what can you give at Christmastime and these are people that need that.”
Anyone wanting to register for a hamper can do so by calling 211 between Dec. 1 and 12 from Monday to Friday and they will be provided with a date and time to pick up the hamper.
