Tuesday, December 14, 2010 Garibaldi students get creative with gingerbread.
Page A3
ary Annivers 1985-2010
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Charity
More in need of help this holiday
The local food bank and Christmas hamper stay well stocked thanks to grassroots fundraisers and big events that bring in food, toys, and cash during the season. by Maria Rantanen mrantanen@mrtimes.com
Demand at local charities is up this Christmas – both the food bank and Christmas hamper society are noticing an upward trend in the community. The number of families registering with the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows Christmas Hamper Society has already exceeded the number from last year – and requests are coming in daily. In addition, demand is up by 10 per cent at the Friends In Need Food Bank. But Santa will come, said Lorraine Bates, director of the Christmas hamper society, even if the society has to dip into reserves like they did last year. “Everybody will be taken care of,” she said. The hamper society aims to buy children and teens who are registered with them the things they’re wishing for and not just any gifts. “We want to treat them like
our kids,” she said, adding that they “go the extra smile” because “every Christmas should be special.” Bates estimates there will be 600 families registered with the society by the end of the Christmas season, up from a total of 568 last year. The total for 2009 was a hundred more than in 2008. Demand for food hampers is up about 10 per cent this year, said Joanne Olson, executive director of the Friends In Need Food Bank. “I just think the whole economic downturn has trickled down to hit everybody,” she said. While businesses may be doing better, it doesn’t seem like they’re hiring yet, Olson added. The food bank has 2,850 regular clients and give out 575 monthly hampers. She often gets calls from families who are working but still not making ends meet. This Friday evening’s CPR Holiday Train is the biggest fundraising event of the year for the Friends In Need Food Bank (see related story below). But a large part of the food donations that are distributed by the food bank come from small community fundraisers, Olson said. The Christmas hamper society depends on a variety of fundraisers that help garner funds
Roxanne Hooper/TIMES
Maple Ridge fire captain Jim Sinclair and Friends In Need volunteer Vivian Anderson collected donations of food, cash, and new toys during a six-hour Firefighters for Families fundraiser at the Save-On Food at the Westgate Mall on Saturday. for the Christmas gift packages, from the CaddyShack strip-a-thon that raised $20,000 this year, to the firefighters who collected
about $24,000 in their boots this weekend – the best year yet for the Firefighters for Families fundraiser.
In its ninth year, the Maple Ridge firefighter initiative raised $17,186.07.
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Food bank benefits as train rolls in Friday night Spectators are asked to bring $5 and cans of food to Port Haney.
by Maria Rantanen mrantanen@mrtimes.com
Maria Rantanen/TIMES
Jennifer Johnson and Darlene Miller volunteer with the Friends In Need Food Bank.
The second last stop for the crossCanada CP Rail Holiday Train will be in Port Haney, and food bank organizers are hoping the community will come out in droves to fill up their food depot. Last year, residents from Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows donated the most of all the stops the train made across Canada with a grand total of $18,833 in donations.
The train event raises about 10 per cent of the food bank’s annual budget. Joanne Olson, executive director of the Friends In Need Food Bank is hoping everyone will donate $5 and a few cans of food at the holiday train – “that would be a good day,” she said. The holiday train rolls into the Port Haney station on Friday at 7:45 p.m. There will be music by The Odds on a stage on one of the train cars. The food bank will be collecting cash and food donations. Juice, baby food and formula, canned fish and meat are some of the most necessary items. During the holiday train event, the Billy Miner pub will be serving hot chocolate and hot dogs, which can be
bought by donation and The Odds will be selling their CD at the holiday train event for $10 – all proceeds will go to the Friends In Need Food Bank. The holiday train includes two brightly decorated freight trains each decorated with thousands of lights. The train began its journey on Nov. 27 in Beaconsville, Que. On its journey, the train will stop in more than 140 communities to help raise money and food for local food banks. Since 1999, the CP Holiday Train has raised $4.8 million and has generated almost 2.3 million pounds of food donations. All donations stay in the community where they’re collected.
Don’t miss important information from City of Pitt Meadows on Page A4 and A9
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