The view from the Christmas Cheer Board loading dock

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 24/12/2024 (444 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Looking around at the massive white-walled warehouse chock-a-block full of food, presents and boxes, one can sense a noticeable determination in the air. Busy elves dressed in their bright red t-shirts are each focused on their cog in the gigantic wheel known as the Christmas Cheer Board. Greeters, wrappers, fork lift drivers, checkers, packers, folks on computers and telephones are busily working as a team that is tighter than our beloved Jets.

Laughter and conversation fill the space, all in the context of altruism, which cheers up even the most dreary day. Oh, and some of the days are more than challenging. Winnipeg’s climate can throw a damper on deliveries; still the diehards keep traipsing in to pick up yet another load.

These are the folks that go unnoticed, like the gentleman who drives in from Portage la Prairie to spend the day driving around the city in his half-ton delivering hampers. Then there are the numerous businesses who send groups of employees out in a friendly competition to see who can deliver more. The cars and SUVs go away loaded with boxes on their laps and smiles on their faces. It is truly amazing how many hampers can be squeezed in to a Honda Fit.

Employees from insurance and financial groups, funeral homes and fashion distributors alongside youth groups all take their turn. It’s just a question of showing up to the Xmas depot, showing your license to the checker and finding an area of the city to dispatch a little seasonal joy.

As the loads are prepared for distribution, the regular flow of outgoing boxes gets interrupted by incoming. Huge trucks and a variety of vehicles back in to the docks with deliveries and donations of food and toys. These are from the businesses that are happy to supply their surpluses to a good cause. There are also those that have been collecting for months and are ready to make their contributions. Phones are revealed and group shots are taken of the jovial expressions within the backdrop of what appears to be Santa’s workshop.

You may notice the premier or former radio announcers around the storehouse of good cheer, but in this context, they shed their stature and roll up their sleeves towards the common goal of providing for those less fortunate. In the same way, there is no judgment of anyone requesting a hamper. From refugees of war who have made Winnipeg their home, to the unemployed and needy, a call to the switchboard brings some temporary relief, needed additions to the pantry and delight to children who are able to unwrap a colourful present on that special day.

Those that are able to show up to the facility are welcomed and directed to helpers who register them and provide much needed sustenance as well as a few extra treats and playthings for the kids. Social workers are on site to meet with clients to provide any other assistance needed. A table is adorned with hygiene items, plush toys and various donated items to pick from which is constantly being replenished.

At one end of the vast space is the assembly line, where boxes are packed in a very particular order. Volunteers support the school groups who come down to spend an hour or two at this chore passing and preparing cans and boxes from enormous pallets. Schools realize the importance involving their students in such endeavours and many have been at it for decades. It is truly a giving experience that these pupils will hopefully carry through their own lives.

And without fanfare, the full-time managers and organizers who have been working full-time for months carry on visiting each station, solving the most difficult of problems with a beaming smile and a laugh to warm the hearts of all those under the dome of cheer.

The scenes that surround the loading dock present an overwhelming sense of a giving community that we know as Winnipeg. Please help out in any way you can. Merry Christmas.

Dave Taylor is a cheer board volunteer and a regular contributor to the Winnipeg Free Press. Please see his blog at variousfp.wordpress.com