WhitecourtChristmas Hamper needs your help

The Whitecourt Christmas Hamper is looking to the community for more help this season. Bins are located at Boom 96.7, KalTire, Bugz & Beaners, the Royal Canadian Legion, Remax, AJMC, Seniors Circle, The Orchard Café, A&W, Scotiabank, and both the town and county offices. Bins are emptied once a week thanks to Atco Gas employees who generously donated their time to pick up the donations and deliver them to a holding location.

Families have been applying for the hampers since November 28 and are eagerly awaiting the surprises in store for them thanks to the generosity and kindness of their fellow community members. A couple of changes are new this year as the Hamper committee pushes forward to reach more people. The first big change is that the Christmas Hamper will no longer be accepting food items of any kind.  

“We found there was a lot of confusion between the Christmas Hamper and the Food Bank. We are two very separate and independent organizations. We didn’t want to take away from the food bank by having that confusion. We chose instead to focus our efforts on getting more of the cash donations so that we can give grocery gift cards. We have found the people who need to fill their cupboards most use their money very wisely,” explained committee member Koren Scott.

The second big change for the hamper is that this year they can accept e-transfer donations. She said the committee investigated having a link for donations like popular fundraiser platforms, but the fees attached to those services would take needed dollars from the fundraising effort. They opted instead to open for e-transfers which are free for them to accept and often free for people to send. The email address for sending e-transfers is mrsgundy@telus.net which will deposit straight into the committee bank account.

“No donation is too small. It is all used very wisely and smartly and is very much appreciated. Every dollar is stretched and valued as if it was our own. That’s one of reasons why we do things the way we do. Some bigger organizations have administration fees, but we do not have any. Every single cent that is donated comes back into the hamper to make sure families have a good Christmas,” she said.

The last two years have been consistent with the number of applicants. Both years averaged 135 family hampers with included roughly 280 children. “It’s a lot to take care of. We also take care of some non-children families. Last year we gave out 116 hampers which was a high record number to single families that don’t have children. So, yes, we need a lot.”

Since they are down on donations, Scott said she can’t pinpoint one specific item that they need most since every category is lacking. “In years past at this time we would’ve emptied our bins several times but right now we are looking pretty skimpy. We can’t really say if it’s a sign of the times or due to the recession, but we are really in need of help.”

She said other organizations need help, too, and that she knows they aren’t the only ones asking a lot of community members. “You don’t have to have money falling out of your pockets to be able to help. Five, 10, or 20 dollars will help in a big way. Our committee stretches each dollar that we get.” The Whitecourt Christmas Hamper has been around since 1972 with this being its 46th year. For those looking to donate cash towards the big endeavour you can either etransfer to mrsgundy@telus.net or drop off at Remax as that is the only storefront holding cash donations. All other donations can be brought into the stores listed at the beginning of this article during their open hours up until the end of business on Wednesday, December 12.

“If people have something for us on Thursday, the 13^th after the bins have been picked up, they can, of course, contact us and we will make arrangements because Thursday and Friday we will be packing everything,” she said. In need of donation ideas? Aside from gifts for younger children that tend to be easier to buy they also need gifts for teens or single parents. Things like books, colognes/perfumes, toiletries, beauty products, kitchen items, and art/craft/science kits are great ideas. Unique board games are also fantastic as each family will receive one. “Everyone knows Monopoly, Sorry, and Trouble because they’ve been around for decades but there are so many new games out. Pick something that you haven’t even heard of.”

Tax receipts are also available for every single financial donation. “There is no dollar value minimum that you have to spend to get a charitable tax receipt. We just need to know that you want the receipt and that we have your information to get it to you.” For more information call 780-779-6437 or 780-778-0668 or visit the Facebook page, Whitecourt Christmas Hamper.