At the start of the fall, when the Community Hamper Association started accepting applications for Christmas 2020, they expected it was going to be a record-setting year.
It certainly proved to be the case.
The association filled nearly 400 hampers this fall for people in the community. People have been dropping by the Estevan Salvation Army from Dec. 21-23 to pick up their hamper, which will help them have the food they need for Christmas.
“The Salvation Army was gracious enough to let us use their church area, because we have to do the two-car delivery. And then we don’t have to do the stairs,” said Char Seeman, who co-chairs the Community Hamper Association alongside Heather Woodhouse.
The number of hampers that they filled was similar to what they expected. And it’s thanks to the support of people in Estevan and area that they were able to meet the needs of the community.
“It was outstanding, especially with the downturn,” said Seeman. “It was so appreciated, because we might have done the legwork, but without their monetary donations, there is no way we could have done what we did this year.
“And we’ve had so many families say to us ‘We never thought you guys were going to be able to get us the toys or the hampers this year, with the way the economy is, so it’s been amazing.”
A $16,000 donation from a consortium of oil and gas companies in southeast Saskatchewan was a big help. Businesses, individuals and organizations in Estevan and surrounding communities came through in a big way.
“There have been a lot of days in which we’ve been in tears at the support we’ve gotten from people,” said Seeman.
All of the donations this year had to be cash, because they could not accept food. Any food donations had to go to the Salvation Army.
Seeman didn’t have an estimate on how much they received from donors, but they received enough to fill nearly 400 hampers, at an average of $100-$125 in food per hamper.
“We try to start out the year with $1,000 or so in our bank account for a cushion, and there certainly won’t be any cushion this year, there’s no doubt about it.”
The hampers will include everything that people would need for Christmas meals that day. Not only will recipients find the essentials for supper – turkey, stuffing, potatoes, gravy, buns and milk – but there will be canned meats for lunch, and cereals for breakfast, so that everyone has a full stomach on Christmas Day.
The hampers range in size from small, which would feed one or two people, to double extra-large, which would be enough to feed a family of 10, since some large families are among their recipients.
Seeman noted there was a lot more work for the hamper association this year than in the past. They had to worry about things that weren’t issues in the past, including a deadline to request hampers, the inability to deliver them and having the hamper pickup at a different time than the pickup for the toys collected through their Angel Tree program.
“It’s been three times the work this year, but it’s been worth it,” said Seeman. “Where usually we start in October, we started in September this year. And then in those first few months, we meet maybe once a week or every two weeks. Probably for the last two months, including the weekends, me, Shelley (Dayman) and Jolie (Bayda) have been together just about every single day, working on these hampers.”
People phoned to volunteer with the hamper association, and while they needed more than ever, Seeman said they had to maintain their bubble.
