For the most part, professional athletes have their charitable opportunities and platforms to give back handed to them on a silver platter. The who, what, when, where, and why are pretty much figured out for us ahead of time, and all that is required of us is to show up in good spirits and with a big smile on our face.

More often than not, our time is the biggest thing asked of us, and we are rarely challenged to invest ourselves and our money in whatever cause is laid out before us. This past weekend, not only did I find myself on the front lines of a charitable venture that I had bought into on multiple levels, but as a member of a different kind of team that encapsulated hundreds of different volunteers and organizations from around this city.

Project Echo, a new charitable organization in the city of Winnipeg, has a very simple mission statement as it's directive: to make Winnipeg a better place. One of the many initiatives it has undertaken is an event called "Sam's Christmas," which took place this past weekend. Sam's Christmas is an event inspired by the life and generosity of Jeff Fisher's (my trainer at Elite Performance Centers) grandfather, and has grown from an event that served and benefited some 20 families in 2010, to over 100 in 2011.

The idea of Sam's Christmas, is very simple in nature, just like the directive of Project Echo, which is probably what makes it so successful. The objective is to identify families that are experiencing hardships and/or difficulties around the holiday season and to try and make things a little easier and better for them. Using the group that Troy Westwood is affiliated with, "Empower Resources," 180 families were found to qualify for this assistance. Jeff and his business partner Wade Miller reached out to all of their connections, associations, and friendships in this city and were able to compile just over 100 hampers that benefitted some 375 people.

Every Christmas hamper that was delivered into the homes of these identified Winnipeggers consisted of the following products.

Each house received a poinsettia from the Rock Jewellery shop, a toiletry ensemble from Pinnacle Staffing Solutions, a desktop computer from Computers for School Manitoba, food items from Food Fare, children's boots from More Than Shoes, more food from Peak of the Market that was prepared and packaged by Top Chop Catering, a turkey and ham donated by The Rink Training Centre and prepared by Canad Inns, a box of Christmas oranges from Mf1 advertising, bedding and financial assistance from Cabelas, comforters from the True North Foundation, more money from Craig & Ross Chartered Accountants, clothing from Warehouse One, bread from Crusty Bun, and more money, diapers, baby food and blankets, candy canes, chocolates, and mittens, collected through student and teacher efforts at O.V. Jewitt Community School, Montrose School, St. Alphonsus, Glen Lawn Collegiate, and Oak Park High School.

All of these items were packaged in boxes donated by Globe Moving and Storage, and shipped from storage to the delivery center by Atlas Vanlines.

Most of the volunteers for this event came from the membership roster at Elite Performance Centers, but Jeff Fisher, in his unconventional and unorthodox ways, has a real different way of attracting participants and donors for his charitable events and causes. He makes you pay for it, quite literally. For the privilege of delivering and dropping off one of these enormous and amazing hampers, it costs you $100, which is also directly applied to the hamper efforts. Most people who volunteer in goodwill missions as such aren't expected to pay for their participation, let alone their gas and time too, but Jeff always likes to raise the bar with those who get involved in his giving back scenarios, and he is definitely onto something here.

I've been lucky enough to participate and be aligned with a number of organizations over the years that have put smiles on people's faces for any number of different reasons. But few of these experiences compare to the thrill and feeling that comes over you when you knock on a complete strangers door and affect them in a personal and intimate way that can impact the course of their family's holiday season.

Doug Brown, a hard-hitting defensive tackle with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and even harder-hitting columnist, appears Tuesdays in the Winnipeg Free Press.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition December 13, 2011 C6