Crocus hosts charity match for Christmas Cheer

It’s never too early to take part in the season of giving, and what better way to do that than through sport.

Crocus Plains Regional Secondary School hosted its second annual volleyball buyout event on Friday, which saw teachers and students face off in some friendly competition to help raise money for their charity of choice — this year being Christmas Cheer, an organization celebrating 70 years of delivering holiday hampers to needy families in Westman.

“The whole goal was to just help and support the community,” said Nivedita Joseph, Crocus’ senior student council member and event organizer. “Christmas time is coming very soon, and there’s a lot of families who don’t have access to meals or water and stuff like that, so Christmas Cheer will help with that.”

The school raised more than $700 after selling upwards of 350 tickets, thanks to Joseph and the other volunteers who’d been working tirelessly since the beginning of the month to help make the event a success. The work was clearly all worth it, though, as there wasn’t a single bleacher in the Crocus gym that had an empty seat, and that’s something Joseph will never forget.

“It was so cool,” she said. “I didn’t expect that many people to come and support and cheer and bring the energy, so it was great standing there and seeing it, like, packed. I was like, ‘Oh, my God, this is all worth it,’ kind of moment.

“I feel like everyone always tries to support schools, with a lot of companies donating their stuff to help schools and even help with the lunch programs at school and stuff, so I feel like it’s only right to do whatever we can to support the community that’s giving to us, so that’s the idea behind all this.”

That’s the attitude Christmas Cheer board chair Myrna Lane greatly appreciates, as the organization strives to raise $90,000 in donations this year in hopes of filling 1,200 hampers — which would be 100 more than last time around. Lane said she always wants the need to be less each year, but the reality is it’s usually the other way around — so help wherever they can get it is very beneficial to their mission.

“There’s always growing demand for holiday support,” said Lane, who’s been in her role since 2013. “There are a lot of different areas that are in need of financial support, so it’s nice to see the younger generation getting involved.

“It’s a wonderful idea for students to learn about the needs that are in the community and then put that into action because it becomes more real to them when they do the activity they have. When you’re preparing, organizing and doing the activity, you’re thinking about why you’re doing it and how important it is, and oftentimes they learn more about their surroundings and that there are people in need.”

Last year, Christmas Cheer delivered around 1,100 hampers, which include a Christmas meal (turkey/poultry, stuffing, potatoes, vegetables, etc), snacks like canned fruit, peanut butter, jam, crackers, tea and even baby food for infants, and also a present for anyone age 16 and under. The quantity of all the food items depends on the size of the family.

In addition to food, Christmas Cheer also includes a “stocking stuffer” in their care packages, which come with mitts, toques and other essential clothing items during the wintertime that people may overlook otherwise.

During Crocus’ first annual volleyball buyout last year, they raised $500, and now this year, $200 more. Madison Sheffield, a Grade 12 student on the varsity girls volleyball club, hopes the Plainsmen tradition will continue to go to even bigger heights each year moving forward.

“The growth is quite significant, and hopefully it’ll continue to grow in the future,” said Sheffield, who helped the students defeat the teachers 2-1 in three sets. “Doing this type of stuff, I think, is insanely important because we have a reputation, and everybody knows that, but showing that, like, we care enough to help out the community and do these things to put money towards something people really need.

“It’s just cool to see our sports teams are giving back and, like, putting effort towards that and wanting to show that we care about everybody around us, not just getting to play the sport.”

» mdelucataronno@brandonsun.com