With the holiday season approaching, the Community Christmas Hamper program is once again accepting donations.
Karren Donald, community care co-ordinator for the Gospel Chapel, says while all donations are welcome, there are always items that are in short supply.
“We’re always low on things for special diets, like for gluten-free or for diabetics or high-protein diets. PediSure for babies that are on special diets, diapers and things like canned fruit, the canned soups, the chicken noodle and the vegetable, which children like more than the tomato and mushroom. Cereals, hot chocolate, kid-friendly things,” explained Donald, adding that turkey donations are a big help as well.
The Community Christmas Hamper program gives turkeys to families and hams for single people and the trimmings, like stuffing, are items that volunteers usually have to go out and buy as well.
According to Donald, the hamper consists of a full breakfast and a full dinner.
“We do eggs, bread, cereal, peanut and jam, coffee and sugar, Coffee-Mate for breakfast and dinner, potatoes, onions, carrots, turkey, cranberry sauce, Stove Top Stuffing and we fill up the box with extras like Kraft Dinner, soups, canned stews, things like that because it’s a while from Christmas Day until the food bank opens again in January,” she said. “Also the ones in the outlying areas might not have transportation to get in right away in January, so we try to give them a bit extra to hold them until they can get back into the food bank.”
Toy donations are also accepted as well but rather than buying a random toy and dropping it off, there are specific items which can be found on Angel Trees located at His “N Hers Fashions, Overwaitea, CIBC and Grand Forks Credit Union with angels listing items for children up to 12 years.
“If there are any special requests from the parents, like Lego or art supplies, we put that on the angel to put up and also diaper size, formula needed, that type of thing,” Donald said.
“The one at His ‘N Hers is a teen tree, which is really nice. They’ve started that this year so all their angels are from 13 to 18 years. Eighteen is the cut off if they’re still in school. If they’re out on their own, they’re classed as an adult,” she added.
Also at Grand Forks Credit Union and the Gospel Chapel, there are boxes for new socks, mittens and toques for adults – Donald says there are a lot of those items for children.
Donald said that the Gospel Chapel works with the Boundary Community Food Bank and Boundary Family and Individual Services Society (BFISS), along with Grand Forks Credit Union and the program covers the area from the Paulson Bridge at Christina Lake, up to Bridesville and up to Beaverdell, the area that the local food bank and BFISS are responsible for.
On top of the work of the Gospel Chapel is doing, the Columbia Basin Alliance for Literacy (CBAL) has placed Books under Every Tree boxes at CIBC, gallery 2, the Grand Forks and District Public Library, Perley and Hutton elementary schools, the Grand Forks Selkirk College campus and Jogas Espresso Café.
The donation program is for new and gently used books and will be placed into the hampers as well.
Donald said there is a soft deadline of Dec. 10 and a hard deadline of Dec. 14 for donations as the first hampers go out on Dec. 13 and the last on Dec. 21.
Items can be dropped off at the Gospel Chapel, Hannah Bees Flowers and Gifts, Connect Hearing and CIBC.
– With files from Sheila Dobie, CBAL community literacy co-ordinator