PALMERSTON – North Wellington residents still have time to help out with the Children’s Foundation of Guelph and Wellington’s Christmas Adopt-a-Family program and contributions can be made locally.
Grant’s Service Station in Palmerston, owned and operated by Grant and Amy Habermehl, has been a collection point for the program for about 10 years.
Normally, the program involves local residents or groups “adopting” a family and providing gifts tailored to members of a particuar household to open at Christmas time.
“We have families that we have adopted. The town (Town of Minto) takes a whole family, the fire departments all take families, I have businesses that take families, families that take families,” said Amy in a Nov. 23 telephone interview.
Amy, who notes foundation officials call their location “their northern satellite office,” said the organization has advised them, “We can’t do presents this year. We can only do gift cards.”
While having volunteers collect, wrap and distribute presents is a no-go during a pandemic, the foundation is conducting a snowsuit drive along with the gift card program.
“There’s just a lot of families in financial need, more so than normal, obviously, due to the pandemic,” said Amy. She noted that locally, “It’s going very strong and lots of snowsuits have come in. They are new and very gently used.”
Area residents can drop off presents and gift cards or make cash donations, which Amy will use to purchase gift cards or snowsuits, at Grant’s Service Station, at 55 Minto Rd., Palmerston.
The Habermehls will arrange for the donations to get to the foundation’s Guelph distribution point, saving local donors a trip.
“Even though it’s all coming back to our area we all have to take it to Guelph first,” she explains.
Amy said most years the local campaign is able to support about 20 families across north Wellington and they have so far received enough donations for 15. Donation collection will be wrapping up during the first week of December.
For information on the program, call Grant’s Service Centre at 519-343-5888.
