Whitehorse Christmas hamper program at risk of folding

The Whitehorse Kin Club would normally be gearing up right now for its annual Share the Spirit campaign, but not this year.

The future of the popular Christmas hamper program is up in the air because the Kin Club does not have the people to organize it anymore.

"Yeah, it's very urgent," said Io Demers, of the Kin Club. "It won't take place unless we have another group willing to come on board."

Club member Karen Shannon says she and her husband are leaving the territory so they won't be able to help anymore.

"We have managed it with just a few members for so long, and this just cuts it down too small to continue with this program and do the service," Shannon said.

The hamper program, which has been run by the Kin Club for more than a decade, provides toys, clothes and food to families in need over the holiday season. Last year, the program delivered hampers to 210 families, and 450 children. 

"We always have people in need — people with newborns, immigrants, people whose houses burned down," Demers said, her voice breaking.

"For a lot of them, it's the food hamper, and a lot of them are asking for snow suits, clothes — it's not even a matter of toys."

5 to 6 people needed

Demers says organizing the campaign is not difficult, but it does require about five or six people each year to make it happen. She's hoping some new people step forward to take over, but the Kin Club is willing to help this year to smooth the transition.

"It doesn't have to be a non-profit group, it just has to be people who can and will work together," Demers said. 

The club is urging anybody interested to let them know within the next week or two.

Whoever takes over, though, will have an immediate problem to solve — finding a space to use for a week before Christmas, to collect the donations and organize the hampers.

In the past, the campaign has used the old Whitehorse library building on Second Avenue, but that's no longer an option.

"We have just been informed from the Yukon government that the old library building is no longer available to us — they require it for something else. So that's another hit. We have had that spot for a lot of years," Shannon said.

'Without you, there wouldn't have been anything'

For Demers, the campaign has been an annual reminder of just how generous Yukoners can be.

"We hear the stories that come out of it, we hear the thank yous, we hear the 'without you there wouldn't have been anything'. So for us, that's the payoff," she said.

Some years have been stressful, when organizers weren't sure whether they had donations enough to fill all the needed hampers. But "the community has always come together at the end," according to Demers.

She's hopeful the same thing will happen now.

"The community will not let this die. Someone will step up," she said.