As the busy days of December go by, the Bow Valley Christmas Spirit campaign hopes it is still on everyone’s holiday to-do lists.
The fundraising organization, which provides food hampers and toys to local families, is still looking for cash donations to reach its goal of $55,000.
Patti Furlong said the campaign is at $35,000 raised and will continue to accept donations online to reach the goal and fill hampers with perishable items to make a complete holiday meal.
“The big thing right now is our cash drive,” she said. “That buys all our perishables, including turkeys, fruit and vegetables. That is our next phase.”
Hampers are delivered on Monday (Dec. 22) and packing begins this weekend. They will include a generous donation of toys from MasterCard to the organization.
Furlong said some of the toys have been shared with various community organizations and shared with outlying communities like Morley and High River.
“The idea is that we don’t want to repeat any of the toys to children here and at the same time we’d like to share with other communities our great fortune,” she said.
The credit card company’s Priceless Surprises brought 5,000 toys to the Christmas Spirit campaign at the end of November.
While the gifts were welcome, they were for younger aged children and there was still a need for the campaign to get gifts for teenagers in the community.
“The response for teen gift certificates was fantastic,” Furlong said. “People have been so kind, it really has been great.”
So far, 214 family hampers have been confirmed and 45 single hampers and applications are accepted leading up to the weekend.
Last week’s Royal LePage food drive collected 2,812 kilograms of food and $2,500 was raised. The Brewster stuff a bus collected 308 kg and $600 in donations.
Go to www.christmasspiritcampaign.com for more information, or to donate.
