Cheer board aims to raise $90K for Christmas hampers

The Brandon-Westman Christmas Cheer Board is hoping to raise $90,000 in donations this year — enough to fill 1,200 Christmas hampers for families in need.

The board celebrated its 70th anniversary on Monday and announced its goal for the 2025 season.

That ambitious goal is attainable, said chairperson Myrna Lane.

“People believe in helping their neighbour, and so they want to do what they can to help,” Lane said Monday afternoon at the board’s headquarters on Rosser Avenue in Brandon.

Last year, the board’s 400 volunteers distributed more than 1,551 hampers to families after receiving about $105,000 in donations, exceeding its $92,000 goal.

“Every year expenses go up, and we know that,” Lane said. “And so that’s where we ask the public to help us, either with donating non-perishables or monetary donations so that we can have the finances to buy the supplies to prepare these hampers and the gifts for the children.”

The hampers, which range in size for different families, all contain food like meat, oranges and canned beans, along with items like mittens, tuques and toys for children. The toys vary depending on the age and gender of the children that receive them.

Treasurer Bob Walberg said a family having a Christmas without these resources can be difficult, especially for kids.

“Christmas can be very hard on families and children if Santa doesn’t visit, and it’s very hard on the children to go back to school after Christmas. And everybody’s asking, ‘What did Santa get you for Christmas?’ And they don’t want to say, ‘I guess I wasn’t good enough.’”

Walberg said it’s tough for him to see the rising need in the community.

“I’ve got mixed emotions about it … I made a living at doing preventative work,” he said. “It’s kind of disappointing that we have 1,500 people a year asking for and needing hampers.”

The board gives out hampers based on referrals from social agencies, churches and relatives and friends, he said.

Last year, more than 1,500 people requested a hamper, which was more than the board’s monetary target would have allowed. But, every referral did get a hamper after organizations came forward to sponsor the 300 families that were going to be left out.

Not long before the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of referrals the board received was under 1,000.

The spike in referrals was because prices skyrocketed, Walberg said.

The organization has a core group of people who donate every year, he said, but to reach and potentially exceed the $90,000 goal, they need more people to become repeat donors, and new people to help as well.

“You never know from year to year. You just don’t know. The bottom could fall out (on) you,” Walberg said.

As Christmas Cheer in Brandon moves into its 70th year, Monday’s event itself focused on celebrating all the alumni that helped the board succeed over the decades.

About 50 alumni and current members recounted their history and celebrated their successes with coffee and cake.

In 1955, when it was called the Christmas Cheer Registry, the organization filled 130 hampers, a statistic that generated laughs around the room.

Lane said Christmas is a magical time — and that includes the giving and work from donors and volunteers.

“When you volunteer, you help yourself, but you also help people in your community,” Lane said.

“Christmas is a very emotional time of the year, so we want to try and make it as pleasant and memorable a Christmas for those that are (receiving) those Christmas hampers,” she said.

To donate or become a volunteer, people can go to brandonwestmanchristmascheer.ca.

» alambert@brandonsun.com