ESTEVAN — It was a busy time, but the Estevan Community Hamper Association, the Angel Tree program, and, of course, the community came through once again.
Parents of 410 kids have been stopping by the Angel Tree's Toy Store on Dec. 13 and 14 to shop for gifts and stocking stuffers for their children ages zero to 16 at no charge. The Toy Store was filled with items donated by local people, businesses and organizations, or purchased by the association's volunteers with money donated by the community.
Traditionally, gifts for older kids aren't as popular among donors, so volunteers end up hitting local stores to fill the gaps.
"We always struggle with the 10 to 16 age group. It's just easier to buy for younger kids. The presents are bigger, cheaper. So, we always have gaps that we have to fill there. But the monetary donations have been great. So we're able to do it," said Jolie Bayda, who spearheaded the Christmas hamper campaign this year.
"We never bought anything outside of here; everything came from Estevan. Canadian Tire stayed open late so that we could come and privately shop. And we just were at Walmart today [Dec. 12] and in small businesses."
There were also items crafted by Lara Chicoine and non-handmade toques, mitts and scarves available for families who needed those for the kids on the Angel Tree list.
Bayda said many groups organized fundraisers on their behalf, helping them make sure they can meet the slightly increased demand for support in the southeast around the holidays.
In the days leading to Christmas, Southern Plains Co-op helped the association fill 293 Christmas hampers, packed with everything each family that applied would need for a good holiday meal. Bayda noted that this year they filled about 10 more hampers than last year and had about 10 fewer kids on their gift list.
Bayda noted that her first year spearheading the project has gone well, and she was grateful for the work of dedicated volunteers and the support from the community.
"It was a pretty chill year, knock on wood," she said with a laugh.
"Thank you to everybody who had any amount to do with this. It literally takes so many people to pull it off. And we're just so appreciative of everybody, whether they donated $1 or $1,000, anything helps."
