Christmas Cheer reaches $90K goal
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
We need your support!
Local journalism needs your support!
As we navigate through unprecedented times, our journalists are working harder than ever to bring you the latest local updates to keep you safe and informed.
Now, more than ever, we need your support.
Starting at $15.99 plus taxes every four weeks you can access your Brandon Sun online and full access to all content as it appears on our website.
Subscribe Nowor call circulation directly at (204) 727-0527.
Your pledge helps to ensure we provide the news that matters most to your community!
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Brandon Sun access to your Free Press subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $20.00 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.00 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Brandon-Westman Christmas Cheer is thanking the community after it achieved its goal of raising $90,000 for Christmas hampers this year.
The organization — which recently celebrated its 70th anniversary — will start delivering 1,709 hampers tomorrow for families in need around the Brandon area.
It made the announcement on Facebook Monday, with one organizer calling the community donations “absolutely fabulous.”
“We’re very, very lucky that so many community groups really take this to heart and really want to share the joy at Christmas time,” Synthia Wright said on Monday.
“We’re sincerely grateful,” she said about the help from private companies, local sports teams and other community members and groups.
Wright said the organization reaching its goal two days before it starts to give out donations allows it to be sure that all the supplies and food have been paid for.
“It’s perfect timing because we start delivering on Wednesday,” she said. “Now we’ve got oranges and buns and turkeys tomorrow, and then Wednesday we’ll go out to all the families.”
Wright said 92 cents of every dollar donated goes directly to the hampers, which contain food, toys and warm winter gear. The rest of the donations cover things like paying the phone and internet bills.
The charity itself is paying for 1,313 hampers, with the rest being adopted by local families and groups, she said.
Wright said thousands of stuffed animals from the teddy bear toss at Friday evening’s Wheat Kings game were also donated to be part of the hampers.
Aside from the donations, the charity is getting a boost from volunteers who are helping to organize, wrap, move boxes and distribute the hampers.
“It’s quite the production. We’re very proud of how many hundreds of volunteers that come to help. It’s great,” she said.
Wright said there have been a lot of new supporters this year who have donated their money or time.
One anonymous donor gave $10,000 through the Brandon Area Community Foundation.
Christmas can be a dark time when it’s hard to keep a pantry filled, she said, and it’s good to see the community step in.
Wright said she “absolutely” knew that the group would reach its goal this year, especially after it raised $105,000 last year, which included $25,000 from the provincial government.
The organization is poised to receive more money from the province in the new year from U.S. alcohol sales.
The provincial government announced earlier this month that it will sell its stock of American liquor, with proceeds going to six charities, including Brandon-Westman Christmas Cheer.
The province shelved its U.S. alcohol earlier this year as a form of retaliation over tariffs.
The money Brandon-Westman Christmas Cheer receives will go toward next year’s hampers, Wright said.
» alambert@brandonsun.com