“We want everyone to have something to open on Christmas,” Daphne Rappard said about the Mount Forest Christmas Bureau’s hamper program.
Food banks and other organizations throughout Wellington County have put together various programs to help provide a Christmas meal and ensure there are presents under the tree for members of their communities.
Many organizations have expanded their reach this year to connect with more community members than ever.
Arthur Food Bank
In Arthur, clients looking for a Christmas hamper can fill out a form at the Wellington County Learning Centre.
Lion’s Club of Arthur volunteer Ralph Roelofsen then creates an envelope for each child and puts it on the Christmas tree at the TD Bank.
“In there it says their gender, their size, their likes … if they need boots or hats or mitts or that type of thing and people just walk in and pull that off the tree,” Roelofsen said.
“I just put a range from 30 to 40 dollar gifts and people bring the gifts back to the TD Bank.”
The toys are picked up on Dec. 21 and distributed on Dec. 22. On distribution day the family also receives a hamper.
“We take collections of food all over town between the schools and just different boxes and different businesses and we distribute the food according to how many adults and how many kids are in that family,” said Roelofsen.
Teachers from Arthur Public School help assemble the hampers on Dec. 21 as part of their Christmas party, he added.
“There’s about 20 of them and in 20 minutes they’re done,” he said.
Roelofsen estimates that between 55 and 65 hampers will be distributed this year in Arthur.
Centre Wellington Food Bank
The Centre Wellington Food Bank is again holding its hamper and gift program.
The Angel Program allows food bank clients to sign up to have a sponsor (an individual, family or company) buy gifts for children up to 18 years of age.
On Dec. 13 the hamper boxes will be constructed. On Dec. 14 the hampers will be filled and numbered depending on the size of the family and the Angel Program donors will drop off gifts.
Then on Dec. 14 the clients have a specified time slot to pick up their hamper and gifts. During that visit they will also choose a gift from the toys donated through the Lion’s toy drive and the Zehrs toy drive.
The Christmas hamper will hold enough food for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks on Christmas day, Centre Wellington Food Bank chair Jackie Andrews explained.
The money for the meat in the hamper comes from the Scotia Bank Turkey Drive, for which the bank will match donations up to $5,000.
“If you’re a single … you get to choose between a turkey breast and a ham steak, if you’re a family of two or three you get to choose between a stuffed turkey breast … or a small ham, and if you’re a large family that is four and up you get to choose between a turkey or a large ham,” Andrews said.
Even though the hamper program is largely complete Andrews said the food bank can always use canned meat like ham, chicken and turkey, as well as juice and canned fruit.
Andrews estimates the Centre Wellington Food Bank will distribute about 200 hampers this season.
Clifford Food Bank
Norwell District Secondary School and Minto-Clifford Public School have played a big part in bringing in donations for the Clifford Food Bank Christmas hampers, according to food bank volunteer Marg Shannon.
“Usually we provide a turkey or a ham depending on the size of the household and whatever it takes for Christmas dinner and whatever extras we can find off the shelf and for … ages of 12 and under we supply a toy of some kind,” she explained.
If the food bank needs items that weren’t donated Shannon said there is money to buy whatever extras are required.
However, she did identify the following as useful donations: shampoo, shower gel, toiletries, razors, shaving cream, hygiene items, toilette paper and tissues.
Shannon estimates there will be about 17 hampers distributed in Clifford this season. Distribution day will be around Dec. 20.
Drayton Food Bank
The Drayton Food Bank is expanding its Christmas program this year.
In addition to the hamper and gifts for children under 16, anyone older than 16 will receive a gift basket, Drayton Food Bank coordinator Ryan Krul said.
“That’s something we didn’t do before but … a lady from the community wanted to get that going so I think that’s going to be happening this year as well,” he explained.
The hampers will include everything a normal hamper would hold, such as non-perishable items, cheese, potatoes, apples, bananas, ground beef, etc., as well as a few special treats like a turkey and stuffing.
The hampers will be distributed in the evening on Dec. 16 when clients will pick up their food hampers, gift baskets and gifts – provided for the children by the Drayton Kinettes.
Though Krul didn’t identify anything lacking for the Christmas hampers, he did say the Drayton Food Bank could always use items like Hamburger Helper and cooking oil.
The deadline to register for a Christmas hamper is Dec. 10, but there is no deadline for those looking to donate. Donations can be dropped off at the Drayton Reformed Church, the Royal Bank, the Drayton Food Market or call 519-504-2346 to arrange for a pick-up.
As of Dec. 5 there were 15 clients registered for Christmas hampers, but Krul said he’s expecting between 20 and 25 by distribution day.
East Wellington Community Services
East Wellington Community Services (EWCS) offers a Christmas hamper that includes turkey or ham and all the fixings for Christmas dinner as well as breakfast to clients throughout Erin and Rockwood, explained Chrissie Roberts, coordinator of volunteer and retail services.
In addition all clients receive a gift.
Children up to the age of 18 receive gifts through the Adopt-a-Family program out of the Children’s Foundation of Guelph and Wellington and EWCS supplies the food hamper.
For anyone over the age of 18, EWCS arranges sponsors to buy gifts as well as supply food for the Christmas hampers.
It is estimated there will be 50 hampers distributed in Erin and 35 in Rockwood.
The gifts are distributed to families as they arrive at EWCS locations, but the food portion will be distributed between Dec. 12 and 16, Roberts said.
Harriston Food Bank
The Harriston Food Bank mostly gives out food hampers, according to coordinator Bev May.
“We don’t have a whole lot of children because this is a retired town,” she said.
The hampers consist of whatever people donate, as well as either ham or turkey depending on the size of the family, May said.
A few of the big donation events are the Harriston Santa Claus Parade as well as a food drive at Leslie Motors, she said.
May estimates there will be about 50 hampers distributed this year on Dec. 21.
Mount Forest Community Pantry
This year the Mount Forest Christmas Bureau, a subsidiary of the Mount Forest Community Pantry, is expanding its reach.
“This year we’re also targeting seniors in our nursing home and retirement home who don’t have families,” ensuring they too have something to open on Christmas morning, said Rappard, a bureau volunteer.
The bureau program has also revamped how sponsors buy gifts for children.
Whereas the angels on the “angel tree” were generic and based on age and gender in the past, this year the bureau has gone specific, requesting the donor buy exactly what each child needs and requests.
“Each angel responds to an actual child and we’ve made multiple angels per child,” she explained.
“If there’s … bigger items needed like boots or whatever we’ll do separate ones so different people can choose whatever they can afford or want to buy.”
In addition to the gifts, the Christmas Bureau’s goal is to provide each family with a full turkey dinner and enough food for the week of Christmas, Rappard said.
For singles the bureau provides something like a vacuum-sealed meal with turkey and gravy so they can easily microwave it without worrying about cooking.
Wellington Heights Secondary School also runs a Warm Winter Wishes program that purchases gifts and gift cards for some of the families in need from its feeder schools.
The Christmas Bureau then steps in to provide for those families not receiving gifts from the high school.
The Christmas hampers will be distributed on Dec. 22 and though the window for angel donations has closed, the bureau is currently purchasing any missed items and has asked for cash donations to be mailed to P.O. Box 54, Mount Forest, N0G 2L0 to help fill the gaps.
This year Rappard predicts about 140 hampers will be distributed.
Palmerston Food Bank
The Palmerston Food Bank is providing clients with a hamper that will give them all the fixings for Christmas day.
“For families it’s turkey, potatoes, vegetables, bread, milk, juice, some kind of dessert; we have some extras … you know chocolates or things, nuts that are sort of seasonal and … say (for) a single person or maybe just a smaller family, we do have nice-sized hams so they could have the hams instead of the turkey,” said food bank president Barb Burrows.
“We find a lot of our singles, you know the turkey would go to waste or some people just don’t even have the means to cook a turkey.”
Though applications to receive a Christmas hamper closed on Dec. 7, Burrows said donations would be received at any time.
“This year we did get a grant from the Turkey [Farmers of Canada] and Food Banks Canada to purchase some turkeys,” Burrows said. “We were able to share that with the Harriston and Clifford food banks. So my freezer is full of turkeys at this moment, so we’re well on the way.”
Other local farmers and businesses also donate turkeys and other food items.
Burrows said it looks like the Palmerston Food Bank will serve between 40 and 45 clients when the hampers are distributed on Dec. 19.
“We’re just here to fulfill a need,” Burrows said.
