Matching pledge delivers plenty of Christmas Cheer to Miracle effort
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 19/12/2020 (2090 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Christmas Cheer Board’s chief elf brings great tidings for the last week of Miracle on Mountain and is feeling quite optimistic.
Joining the ranks of the Cheer Board for the past week is an anonymous donor who will match every individual donation readers make to the Free Press Miracle campaign.
“This is a tremendous boost to the (Miracle) at the Free Press. It widens our base and brings more people into feeling like they’re a part of the team…. It’s really provided an avenue for (an) average Winnipegger,” says board executive director Kai Madsen.
“No offence to any large donor, but I’d rather have 1,000 people donate $1 than one person donating $1,000, because with the $1 donations you also potentially have a volunteer in the future… so they become part of a team.”
The unnamed benefactor has already bolstered numerous community contributions and with the Cheer Board phone lines remaining open until Wednesday, Madsen expects even more generosity.
“It makes a big impact and we’ve had a lot of those donations,” he says.
Each dollar helps the Cheer Board pay for the $700,000 worth of food vouchers it’s mailing this year, following COVID-19 restrictions in place of assembling the usual Christmas hampers.
Madsen says the non-profit is up to 12,000 voucher applications, but he hopes to get at least 15,000.
“I can’t stress enough that if you are hoping to get a voucher for Christmas, please make sure you phone into our phone centres and make an application. We can’t do anything without your application.”
Like another jolly man who’s on a tight schedule, Madsen also urges everyone to sign up as soon as possible.
“I don’t want to leave it until the last night, because if we get it at the very last minute, we might not be able to get it to them before Christmas,” he says. “Then it would come between Christmas and New Year’s, but we’d really like to be able to do it before.”
Madsen says despite the relative quiet around the office, there is a great team supporting Winnipeg’s most vulnerable.
“We used to have 7,000 to 8,000 people come through the door,” he says, adding staff has now been reduced to about 60 people.
“We’re all scrambling but we’re holding up.… That’s what the Cheer Board is all about, it’s a community effort.”
Madsen and his team will continue to work until the last voucher is delivered, ensuring thousands of people get to share a meal over the holidays.
“We won’t stop. We’ll keep right on going and make sure they all get out.”
To help the Cheer Board make a significant impact, donate now and join the team in wishing Winnipeg happy holidays.