$1 Christmas trees help the hungry Spirit of Christmas

When it snows and things have slowed down a little at The Chamois car wash at 850 Waverley St., manager Jeff Mayo has a minute to reflect on a Christmas blessing he's seeing first-hand.

"The generosity of people continues to impress me," said Mayo, 26.

Mayo and his staff, along with staff at the other two Chamois locations, are offering paper cutout Christmas trees for an optional donation of $1 each to their customers. The trees are posted on the walls bearing the name of the donor.

Backed by Chamois owner Dave Watson, the paper Christmas tree fundraiser has made $11,000 in the past two years and has generated over $2,000 so far this season. Mayo said his location has sold about 900 trees already with some people giving more than the $1 donation being asked.

"It just feels great to be able to give back to the community and we're proud to say that it's the generosity of our customers, just regular people coming to get their cars washed, that makes it possible," said Mayo, who has worked for Chamois for 10 years. He created the tree design which was professionally printed. "We ask only for a $1 donation but we've had cases where people have donated $25 and we had one customer last year who donated about $50 at one of our stores. The $1 is a minimum donation but if anyone wants to donate more, we're very happy."

The money is split between the Christmas Cheer Board, Winnipeg Harvest and the annual hamper project operated by Jim and Gloria Marles of Authentique Hair Design Studio III.

Mayo said he came up with the idea in 2007 after being inspired by the generosity of Marles, his hairstylist and friend for about 21 years, who is in his 18th year of putting together hampers for needy families. Jim and Gloria are once again putting together 25 hampers at their shop and will be aided by some of money raised by Mayo's Chamois fundraiser.

"I've seen him do that year after year and I wanted to do something to help him out with it but, at the same time, help as many people as we could," Mayo said.

"That was the idea behind incorporating the three. The Christmas Cheer Board and Jim's hampers, their big thing is Christmas time. Winnipeg Harvest goes all year round but our thought was to help them get past that Christmas rush and through the next couple months."

Mayo said he also got some inspiration a little closer to home.

"In my family, my parents always have worked for everything that they have and they instilled in me that if you want something, you've got to work for it.

"I definitely believe in that but at the same time we know there's people that are in unfortunate situations and do need some help to get along or to get through a tough time."

Please join us in assisting those who need our help this holiday season -- visit Mayo and buy a paper Christmas tree or send a donation to our sports department's Spirit of Christmas Fund which goes directly to the Christmas Cheer Board.

Send your donations to: Spirit of Christmas, c/o Winnipeg Free Press, 1355 Mountain Ave., Winnipeg, R2X 3B6.

Hamper pickups begin Monday, Dec. 7; deliveries begin Saturday, Dec. 12. Drivers to help deliver hampers are also still required. For info on hampers, or to volunteer, call 989-5680.

Jerry G. Ilchyna $125.00

Rockman $50.00

Sharon Mooney $200.00

In Memory of John Anderson $40.00

In Memory of Ivy Land $20.00

In Memory of Doris Chapman $20.00

Mrs. J. Nicol $50.00

Paul Platz In Memory of Dorothy $100.00

Miss Jane E. Montgomery $10.00

Elaine Garychuk $50.00

Elva Stevens $25.00

M./A. Borody $40.00

In Memory of Neil, Lars, Carl & Alvin Porath $25.00

In Memory of Grant Anderson $25.00

Marilyn & Bob Forcand $100.00

In Memory of Dennis Wilson $150.00

Jerry's Concrete $1,000.00

In Memory of John & Mary Golovitch $100.00

In Memory of Rennie & Angie Stopchycki $100.00

Ron Golovitch $100.00

Barbara & John Dempster $100.00

Partricia & K.D. McColl $30.00

Val Allardice $100.00

Kenneth & Mary Hurst $100.00

Mrs. Beverley Swan $50.00

Ted & Jean Dupley $50.00

Mr. Ian Livingstone $100.00

In Memory of Roger Stockford $100.00

Mr. Vincent Petrachek $50.00

V. F. McKenzie $50.00

In Memory of Charles Allard, Ann & Pete Lysy $125.00

Ian & Evelyn Hamilton $300.00

In Memory of Charles Allard $25.00

Rick & Christine Station $30.00

Raymond W. & Rosemary Goodwin $50.00

E. or B. Barlow $50.00

Ronald R.R. Robinson & Michel Touchette $300.00

Norma Scholl $50.00

In Memory of the Girls $100.00

Ladies of Rossmere 60 Plus Handicraft Group $50.00

In Memory of Marc & Mary Bockstael $200.00

K.D. Power/G.R. Arbez $250.00

William & Claudia Senkiw $500.00

Mrs. D. E. Carruthers $100.00

G. W. Battershill $200.00

Bettina Nyman $100.00

Ms. Jean L. Olsufka $35.00

Mrs. Kay Schalme $25.00

Al & Caroline Lundgren $50.00

Gail & Mark Wynne $50.00

Ted Foreman $200.00

Ms. Margaret Stuart $30.00

Mrs. Beryl Sawkins $50.00

Mr. & Mrs. Marcel Pineau $50.00

In Memory of Parents $25.00

C. Rebizant $25.00

Ms. Alice Mitchell $50.00

Joyce and Raymond Cumming $150.00

In Memory of B.D. (Buck) & Eva Hay $200.00

Coughlin & Associates Ltd. $250.00

In Memory of Fred Anderson $100.00

In Memory of Wayne Hallonquist $50.00

St. Vital Curling Club Past Presidents Assoc. $100.00

Anonymous (two donations) $100.00

Previous total $4,527.02

Today's total $7,030.00

Grand total $11,557.02

ashley.prest@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition December 5, 2009 D6