Winnipeg non-profits need more volunteer hands to help keep holiday spirit alive

Winnipeg organizations say they desperately need of more volunteers to help distribute Christmas food hampers and fundraise for year-round programming. 

The Salvation Army is short on volunteers and the Christmas Cheer Board needs drivers to deliver 6,000 hampers filled with food and toys ahead of Christmas Day.

"We are very hopeful that drivers will come and see us. It's a very simple process to deliver hampers for us," board executive director Shawna Bell said Wednesday. 

Volunteer drivers will be set up with four to five hampers to drop off within a two- to three-block radius. 

They can come to the board's warehouse at 895 Century St. between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. during the week and until 4 p.m. on the weekends. 

The delivery process should take about an hour, and people are welcome to deliver more than once, Bell said. 

"I do believe that with the help of this community, with the help of people in Winnipeg, we're going to successfully deliver these hampers this year," she said. 

Last year, the grassroots organization delivered 18,313 hampers. This season they are expecting to exceed 19,000 because the need for essential food items has been very high and it doesn't seem to be easing up, Bell said. 

The board started taking food hamper applications on Nov. 3 and they are creeping up on the 17,000 mark. 

"There's so many people that need us so very much," Bell said. "We can only help with this little bit to ease some of the burden and some of the stress of the holidays."  

Sense of community

Year after year, the organization's core volunteers – some who have been returning for more than 20 years – offer their help because there's an incredible sense of community and the desire to make a difference and brighten someone's holiday, Bell said. 

Many companies will send their staff to the warehouse for a day to make sure hampers go out, she said.

"We see the best in folks coming through our doors," Bell said. "I believe in the power of people in Winnipeg and every year they never cease to amaze me."

The Salvation Army is also in need of hundreds of volunteers in order to reach their goal of raising $300,000 through their Christmas kettle campaign, which goes toward children's programming, food banks and more. 

Volunteers can sign-up for a two-hour shift from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. at any of the 15 locations in the city. 

"We're just under 25 per cent of that goal with a week and a half to go, and so we're really wanting to sort of encourage the community to come and support us," Salvation Army Capt. Ian Scott said. 

People can also donate to the organization's "toy mountain," which gives families the opportunity to choose toys for their children up to age 12 before Christmas day. 

Scott said they expect to have toys for 8,000 children this year. 

The registration process, which opened in November, has closed and now families are coming to choose from toys that are laid out on tables and organized by age group. 

Joy and thankfulness

There's an overwhelming amount of joy and thankfulness from the families, Scott said. Many of the parents are accessing toy mountain for the first time with a sense of "I can't believe someone is doing this for me," he said. 

The Salvation Army has a returning group of volunteers that restock the tables and guide families through that process. 

The shelter at 180 Henry St. is hosting a community Christmas dinner on Wednesday, Dec. 21 and they expect to serve more than 1,000 meals to people experiencing homelessness. 

The organization has enough volunteers to help set up, serve food, greet community members and clean up, Scott said. 

However, people wanting to help can donate non-perishable food items, such as canned items, dry pasta, pasta sauce, rice, peanut butter, jelly powder, cereal and newly unwrapped toys to the Salvation Army or the Christmas Cheer Board. 

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