Demand up as Christmas hamper programs enter final days

Groups gathering food and raising money for Christmas hampers on P.E.I. this year are finding demand is up, and are hoping Islanders will be able to help meet it.

Darlene MacDonald, family services coordinator with the Salvation Army in Summerside, said she expects she will need to supply about 500 turkeys, and donations of actual turkeys are down while monetary donations are up.

"A bit worried," is how MacDonald sums up her current mood.

"We went out and purchased some so we're not stranded, but if funding comes in, great, because it does cost quite a bit for 500 turkeys."

More donations of actual turkeys will be helpful, she said.

Emotional week

At South Shore Food Share, demand has doubled, said founding sisters Jenny and Jackie Myers.

The food share serves a small, close-knit community, and the sisters said seeing new people come in for help has made for an emotional week.

On the plus side, they said food donations have been very strong.

Mike Macdonald at the Upper Room Food Bank said after a slow start the Feed a Family campaign has been gaining momentum. 

"The weekend was good to us," said Macdonald.

"We're in a pretty good spot."

But there is still a lot of work to do, he said.

As of Monday, the campaign had gathered more than 1,400 turkeys and $36,000. Macdonald is anticipating a need for close to 2,500 turkeys — Island-wide.

"We still have about 1,000 turkeys left that we are looking for," he said.

"If you are out grocery shopping, the easiest way to do it is to drop it off in the freezer of the grocery store that you're at."

Demand is up in the Charlottetown area as well, he said.

CBC P.E.I.'s Feed a Family campaign wraps up this Friday. You can make a donation online here.

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