‘Mind-blowing’ year for Christmas Cheer Board
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Monthly Digital Subscription
$1 per week for 24 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $4.00 plus GST every four weeks. After 24 weeks, price increases to the regular rate of $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
Monthly Digital Subscription
$4.99/week*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $16.99 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $23.99 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/01/2025 (386 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
A national postal strike didn’t stop Free Press readers from chipping in to the annual Miracle on Mountain campaign to help the Christmas Cheer Board.
Shawna Bell, the board’s executive director, said the campaign brought in more than $56,000 in the organization’s 105th year.
“We ended up having over 21,000 hampers go out,” said Bell.
JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS
From left: Assiniboine Memorial vice-president Jason Paseska, Cheer Board executive director Shawna Bell, club manager Jody Smart, and past president Al Seredynski.
“It was the craziest year. We looked at our numbers and knew we would be over 20,000. When it looked like we would run out of food, we ordered more. In the first two weeks of December it dropped right off, but then we reached out and found there were people who qualified, but hadn’t asked for a hamper.
“They came in on the 23rd and 24th. There was a long lineup. It was all a blur, but they all received hampers.
“It was pretty mind-blowing.”
Free Press editor Paul Samyn said “the postal strike did no favours to the Christmas Cheer Board, but fortunately, Free Press readers again rose to the challenge to make a Miracle on Mountain.”
Al Seredynski, past president of the Assiniboine Memorial Curling Club, along with club manager Jody Smart and vice-president Jason Paseska, came forward this week to present Bell with a $1,115 cheque: $500 from a league 50/50 draw and $615 by passing the hat around by senior mixed league members.
“People here have been generous,” said Seredynski. “We’ve been doing this for 20 years now and it’s all done prior to Christmas.
“It really is the time of year for giving. The cheer board gives assistance to less fortunate people and it is something the city gets behind a lot. It is easy for us to use it as a way of helping out at this time of year.”
Seredynski and the rest of the curlers at the club have helped out in a big way throughout the years. He estimates the club has chipped in about $10,000 to media fundraisers that help the charity.
Bell said the postal strike did put a dent in this year’s donations so, because Winnipeggers can still receive a 2024 tax receipt for a contribution, she hopes anyone who was planning to send a cheque but didn’t get around to it will still consider mailing one in.
“We’ve been seeing a significant amount of mail coming in, which is great,” she said. “Folks weren’t forgetting about us. People can still send in a donation because I think we will come close to breaking even.”
For the most part, people can pack away their mountain climbing gear for this year, so, on behalf of the Free Press, and for a final time this campaign, we once again thank our readers for their generosity.
kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca
Kevin Rollason is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He graduated from Western University with a Masters of Journalism in 1985 and worked at the Winnipeg Sun until 1988, when he joined the Free Press. He has served as the Free Press’s city hall and law courts reporter and has won several awards, including a National Newspaper Award. Read more about Kevin.
Every piece of reporting Kevin produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
How to help
You can still help! Cheques can be made out to Miracle on Mountain, Christmas Cheer Board, P.O. Box 51089, Winnipeg, MB R2X 3C6.
You can donate to the Miracle on Mountain fund online through CanadaHelps.org; select “Miracle on Mountain” as the fund.
You can also send a donation directly by e-transfer to donations@christmascheerboard.ca.
Recent donors
Big 6 Curling League, 200
Joan Macdonald, 100
Dan Morier, 100
In memory of John Anderson, 100
Rhonda Willows, 100
Susan Laferty, 50
Susan Briggs, 75
Iris Armstrong, 50
Empathy Angel on bus #55, 500
Millwright Union Local 1443, 700
Chris and Gerry Coulture, 500
Rebecca Schroeder, 200
Margaret Anne Morton, 50
Norbert Collette, 50
In memory of Elaine Bentley, 200
Dakota Collegiate, 9775.23
Melodye Duggan, 100
Sheila Ozamoto, 60
Ron Kuhtey, 300
Marita Downie, 100
In memory of Scott Preston, 100
Daniel Kergen, 75
David Kraemer, 1,000
Gail and Robert Derby, 60
Anonymous, 300
Adina & Reg Kendrick, 150
In memory of John Chervinski, 25
In memory of Tony & Olive Semchuk, 200
Sarah Reilly, 50
In memory of Helen & Tony Reelfs, 50
In memory of Brian J Hyslop, 100
Heather Borland, 200
In memory of Doris & Bert Rathbone, 100
In memory of Ted Rathbone, 50
Ron Golovitch, 150
Jean & Janice Souque, 50
Paul & Patricia Earl, 100
Donna Lancaster, 50
H & G, 50
Thomas & Diane Bobbitt, 100
Burnett Kosmo, 100
In memory of Olive Phillips, 100
Thomas & Lorraine Prescott, 40
In memory of Margaret & Mac, Ebba & Charlie, 100
Gloria Johnson, 100
In memory of George & Lorna Anderson, 100
In memory 0f Doug & Edie McMurray, 100
In memory Jack & Cory Anderson, 200
Edna Poulter, 200
In memory of Alice Edwards, 50
Anonymous, 75
Carol Forbes, 200
Audrey Young, 50
Irene Geisbrecht, 500
Joyce Anderson, 50
Elaine Garychuk, 100
In memory of Gladys and Mary, 200
In memory of Micheal Schwark & Joshua Harder, 100
Elsie Toothill, 100
Adeline Hill, 50
D A MCNeill, 100
Jeanne M. Stoyko, 120
Rick & Christine Station, 60
in Memory of Kent Martin, 50
Gerald Jewers, 500
Total: 58,737.23
Kevin Rollason is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He graduated from Western University with a Masters of Journalism in 1985 and worked at the Winnipeg Sun until 1988, when he joined the Free Press. He has served as the Free Press’s city hall and law courts reporter and has won several awards, including a National Newspaper Award. Read more about Kevin.
Every piece of reporting Kevin produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Advertisement Advertise With Us
Advertisement Advertise With Us