THUNDER BAY – Christmas Cheer will look a little different in 2021.
With COVID-19 protocols still in place, and the Thunder Bay District Health Unit’s vaccination clinic filling up their usual space at the Canadian Lakehead Exhibition’s Coliseum building, the organization has moved across the parking lot and will be handing out hampers on Dec. 14 and Dec. 15 at the Heritage building.
Joleene Kemp said the need has never gone down, in all the years she’s been involved with the Christmas Cheer campaign.
In this sense, this year will be no different.
“Unfortunately the need does not go down. We sort of took a step back and watched what happened in Year 2 of COVID. There are more people accessing food banks. There are more families who are going to a place like the Dew Drop Inn or Grace Place to eat a hot meal,” Kemp said.
“We’re not sure what our numbers are going to be like. We have absolutely no idea. A lot of people are not back to work full time and many people are making minimum wage and no benefits, so people are having to make choices.”
Kemp said she’s hopeful being able to access Christmas Cheer, which provides a hamper full of food, a week’s worth of groceries, as well as toys and gifts for children through the Toys for Tots program, will help remove a few of those hard decisions.
Families shouldn’t have to choose between paying rent or utilities or buying gifts and being able to cook turkey dinner with all the fixings on Christmas Day, Kemp said.
“Many of these families go every month and pick up a hamper,” she said. “But think of the month of December. How do you think those families feel? Team Red wants to give those families a hamper with a week’s worth of groceries and gifts for their children so they don’t have to think about it.
“We take the pressure off them because in a food bank, they can only access it once a month. When they pick up their hamper for December, that doesn’t take into account what they’re going to need to celebrate Christmas. What we do is we give them that opportunity to breathe and to put those smiles on their children’s faces. That’s the most important thing we can do.”
Kemp said they raised about $160,000 last year and their goal in 2021 is to raise enough money to cover the costs of putting the program on. If there’s any extra, that’s just a bonus.
Donations can be made online at www.thunderbaychristmascheer.com, in person at any Scotiabank branch in Thunder Bay, by mail at P.O. Box 10287, Thunder Bay, Ont., P7B 6T7, or by texting CHEER to 344-8229 during the month of December.
Starting at 6 a.m. on Dec. 9, through 6 p.m. on Dec. 10, Acadia Broadcasting will be hosting the 36 Hours of Cheer with a pop-up outside their 200 Park Avenue offices from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day.
Registered south-side residents can pick up their hampers on Dec. 14 from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., with north-side residents getting their chance on Dec. 15. All pick-ups will be at the Heritage building.
