Help us make a Christmas miracle

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/11/2024 (323 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Hunger doesn’t take a holiday during the Christmas season for far too many people.

The dollars people are using to buy groceries aren’t going as far as they did last year, and last year was a very tough time, too.

Many people are, for the first time in their lives, having to use food banks to supplement what they can afford to buy.

They are looking for a miracle this holiday season, and we are hoping you can assist us in making that happen.

Today marks the beginning of the annual Free Press Miracle on Mountain fundraiser to help the Christmas Cheer Board assemble and distribute thousands of food and gift hampers during the holiday season.

“Headline after headline in the Free Press has made it abundantly clear how difficult this Christmas might be for far too many families in our city,” says Paul Samyn, the newspaper’s editor.

“That’s why I am so thankful for the annual miracle that is the Christmas Cheer Board and so hopeful that our readers will again rise to the occasion through their generous donations.”

This is the fourth campaign for cheer board executive director Shawna Bell. The hamper numbers from her first year not only seem like a distant memory, and the difference reflects the increased challenges many more people are going through.

“We distributed 17,000 hampers my first year, and if we could get back to that it would show an improvement for what’s happening out there,” she said.

Bell said after opening the phone lines just two weeks ago, they are already ahead of last year’s pace.

“Over 6,000 applications have been completed with five weeks to go,” she said. “Last year at this time, we had about 4,500.”

Last year was tough for the charity, which budgeted for 19,000 hampers and was slammed with a never-ending stream of phone calls.

For the first time ever, the cheer board had to raise the white flag and stop taking applications more than a week before Christmas. It meant hundreds of people were left without a Christmas hamper.

Bell vowed that wouldn’t happen again and is budgeting for 20,500 this year, while hoping if the need exceeds that number, more food donations will be forthcoming.

Many people who donate continue to send cheques through the mail to both the cheer board and to the Miracle on Mountain campaign; Bell figures 50 per cent of the board’s donations arrive via Canada Post, which is currently shut down by a nationwide strike.

Even though the mail isn’t getting through, donations must.

“Over 6,000 applications have been completed with five weeks to go. Last year at this time, we had about 4,500.”–Shawna Bell

Bell said until the strike is settled donors will have to donate by e-transfer or by going to the cheer board’s website.

So now, it’s up to you. You’ve got the ability to make someone’s Christmas merrier; give someone you don’t know — and likely will never meet — a special Christmas at the end of a tough year.

Whether it’s through an e-transfer or an online donation, help the cheer board.

It will be one of the best presents you never had to wrap.

How to help

You can donate online through CanadaHelps.org — please use the pull-down menu in the donations box to apply your donation to the Miracle on Mountain fund.

You can also send a donation directly by e-transfer to donations@christmascheerboard.ca.

When the current Canada Post strike is over, we will provide an address to send cheques.

 

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca