Thanks to the Prince George Council of Seniors, 218 hampers went out into the community Monday to provide a brighter Christmas to those in need.
The Prince George Citizen partnered with the Council of Seniors on the project for the first time, taking in food donations at the office and proving space for storage and distribution, while the council handled the cash donations.
Fortunately the project ended with a small surplus of food donations, which will be donated to downtown agencies that offer food bank services year round.
As the food donations were brought into the Citizen office, staff happily accepted the donations and placed them on a dolly behind the front counter.
Once the dolly was full, it was wheeled back to palettes in a back room organized by categories of food and dry goods.
This continued for about five weeks where some of the stacks of cans were almost as tall as the volunteers.
When the food drive ended on Dec. 11, volunteers from the council of seniors took over the organization and sorting and then the creation of hampers began over six days until the big delivery day Monday, when about 50 volunteers converged on the Citizen's loading bay to take the hampers to those seniors in need. It only took about two hours to complete the deliveries.
Ruth and Mitch Olineck delivered to the seniors complex at 1010 Liard when they volunteered last year and delivered to others this year. The pair were in the line up waiting for their hampers along with about 30 other volunteers Monday morning.
"People were so excited when we brought their hampers," said Ruth, who also supports St. Vincent de Paul Society and the Salvation Army.
"For me it was kind of emotional to tell the truth. And afterwards we left there so grateful for what we had and kind of sad because it hits home and you just feel like it's not enough. Sometimes it can be overwhelming but if you do a little bit and do what you can do and if everyone does a little bit, it makes a big difference."
Except for about a week where food donations were down a bit and she was worried, this year's campaign went very well, said Lola Dawn Fennell, manager for the Prince George Council of Seniors.
The Christmas hamper delivery is always popular and the majority of the volunteers make it part of their holiday giving year after year.
"There were a few new faces this year," said Fennell.
In it for the long haul were four teams of six volunteers - young and old - who sorted and stacked the non-perishable food items, and put together the food hampers to meet the specific needs of each application. Some families are grandparent-headed households of four or couples, while the majority of hamper recipients were single seniors who live in complexes like Alward Place, explained Fennell.
With more than $6,000 in cash donations, the Council of Seniors was able to provide a ham or turkey, a block of cheese, carrots and a small box of mandarin oranges to each hamper along with the non-perishables that should get the seniors through about a week to 10 days, added Fennell.
"Thanks to every donor and volunteer," said Fennell. "It takes a community to do a project like this and the community really came through."
