By Thia James

Families grateful for Salvation Army Christmas hampers

Dec 19, 2014 | 5:33 AM

Families were lined up just before the lunch hour to pick up their Christmas hampers from the Salvation Army office on 12th Street East in Prince Albert on Thursday.

It was the first pickup day for the more than 530 families receiving the hampers. Many of the toys were collected through the Santa Anonymous toy drive boxes located throughout the city.

For families like Michelle’s, it means a lot. It helps out, she said, as she left with her two children, one seven months old, the other seven years old. She said it helps with the things she’s not able to get.

“This is the first time for me, so it’s a new experience and I’m grateful,” Michelle said.

Now unemployed, things are hard right now, she added. “But so having things like this, you know, are really helpful.”

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The hampers contained toys for the children. The toys are selected for each hamper by volunteers, who find suitable toys in stores for the children whose families are receiving the hampers, Lt. Shawna Goulding of the Prince Albert Salvation Army said. They provide toys for children as old as 12 years.

Along with the hampers, the families are provided with store gift cards to purchase their Christmas dinners.

The Salvation Army turned to the gift cards in part to allow the families to choose their preferred food, Goulding said.

“The other [reason] is logistics of us as an organization. If we were to give out actual food hampers, we would need storage to store that food until it was ready to be distributed, and so, that’s a whole other complication for us to be involved in.”

The toys are paid for through donations from the public.

“Being my first year here in P.A., I’ve enjoyed seeing the joy that people as they’ve given of either their time or their donations and it’s been a privilege to see that. And it’s nice to see Christmas come a little bit early for some people. It seems early for us, but it is just next week,” Goulding said.

Laura, whose family also received a hamper on Thursday, said they help her family, especially with Christmas dinner.

She’s the mother of four sons, and she has two jobs but doesn’t make a lot of money, she said.

“With the Christmas hamper, it helps us provide that Christmas dinner for our family every year. And then with us being low income, I have a hard time trying to get presents too, so it helps us a lot.”

Laura moved to Prince Albert in 2004 and has been using the Christmas hamper program every year since then. “And it’s been a really big help since I’ve moved in here because I’m originally from up north and my band doesn’t help us with anything like this. So, it does come in handy.”

Her sons, 13, 9, 6, and one years of age, are really happy to receive the presents, Laura said. Even though their mom doesn’t make a lot of money, she said her sons are happy that they can receive a gift every year.

The Christmas hamper program is one of the Salvation Army’s major Christmas season campaigns. The Salvation Army is also collecting donations through its annual kettle campaign, and as well, it is taking part in the annual Christmas Cheer broadcast on 900 CKBI on Friday morning.

The broadcast is aimed at raising funds that the Salvation Army will use to help local families.

It will be on the air at 7 a.m. and will run until 9 a.m. and will feature CKBI’s Neil Headrick and Goulding.

Anyone looking to make a donation during the Christmas Cheer broadcast can call 763-7421 or 1-800-667-9000.

tjames@panow.com

On Twitter: @thiajames