Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata hamper drive doles out food for families in need

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This article was published 18/12/2021 (1748 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Bring some holiday cheer, but make it contactless delivery.

More than a hundred volunteers answered that call Saturday morning for the 20th annual Christmas hamper drive from Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre, packing up and dropping off 200 hampers for Winnipeg families in need.

Youthful volunteers smiled under their masks, canisters of candy canes at the ready, as a long line of vehicles snaked around the Canad Inns Garden City parking lot.Festive and fast-moving, drivers picked up pre-packed Christmas boxes and couriered them to addresses around the city.

By noon, the last of the volunteer delivery drivers had arrived, and the work that began four hours earlier with packing up frozen turkeys, bannock-making ingredients and other perishable food for the hampers was complete for another year.

A trio of high school students handed out candy canes and holly-adorned thank-you cards to volunteer drivers, remarking on the efficiency of the event as the last of the hampers were loaded into volunteers’ vehicles.

“It was a great turnout. I’m glad that there’s so many people helping out our community,” said Aliyah St. Germain.

“I like how everyone seemed really friendly and just open to chat,” said Storm Thomas, who reflected on her personal gratitude as she thanked the volunteer drivers.

“It was really nice to give back to the community, especially since I’ve had friends and family members who’ve needed hampers, so knowing that I can give stuff back to the people who I might potentially have known or been surrounded by throughout my childhood, it was really nice.”

“I liked how fast we all did it, too,” said candy-cane distributor Melody Knott.

Months of work turned the hamper drive into a well-oiled machine — preparations began in October, when the organization’s grassroots programs identified the families most in need of food and gift hampers this year. The community organization funds the hampers by partnering with BellMTS.

Earlier this week, volunteers wrapped 600 children’s toys for the hampers. In years past, they’ve arrived pre-wrapped, but supply chain woes nixed that time-saver this time around.

As Ellie Joyal and Adam Kalechyn pulled up to load hampers into their vehicle, they said they wanted to get involved this year.

“Especially with COVID, there’s so much negativity and lots of people missing out on things like work… and family time,” Joyal said.

“It’s just time to give back. Everyone needs it, and why not? It’s got to be part of what we all do. If we all do a little bit, then we can take care of the community,” Kalechyn added.

Returning for another pickup after dropping off his third hamper, Sheldon Bychuk said he’s been off work for medical reasons over the past year and a half and volunteering has helped lift his spirits, even when it’s contactless delivery.

“You drop it off and they’re thankful. You can hear kids in the background like ‘Oh my God!’ So it’s nice,” he said.

“It makes me feel better.”

Pre-pandemic, families used to pick up their hampers themselves. But more volunteers showed up this year and last year than at any other point in the hamper drive’s history, Ma Mawi communications director Rosalyn Boucha said.

“It’s amazing. I know it’s been an emotional week for a lot of us, just because (of) the news, and the last two years have been hard, and this can be a hard time of year for a lot of people anyway,” Boucha said.

“There’s still a lot of isolation happening. We don’t know what’s going to happen, things are feeling a little bit more uncertain again, so just to be able to provide this support is so meaningful for us, and we know people really need it right now.”

katie.may@freepress.mb.ca