Several organizations in Lethbridge are working right up until Christmas as crucial income is still required to sustain annual operations.
For both businesses and charities, the holiday season sees a bulk of their income arrive, which allows them to remain open all year.
“It is utterly imperative, really, that community and folks that live within the catchment area when they are coming shopping, to think about downtown first,” said Sarah Amies, the executive director with Downtown BRZ.
“Think about small, think about local. It’s a great way to reduce footprints environmentally, and it’s just the best way to support local economy, which in the very end, benefits everybody who lives in Lethbridge and area.”
While high demand is good for local businesses, it is not such a good sign for the food banks in the city.
“We are seeing about a 20 per cent increase all year long, and so it’s what we expected,” said Danielle McIntyre, executive director with the Interfaith Food Bank.
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“We are so grateful that the community has made sure that everyone that comes for help is going to get the help that they need.”
The community support has allowed nearly 1,000 food packages to be handed out this Christmas.
“We know that we’ve already distributed 942 hamper sand we’ve got one day to go,” McIntyre said. “So we are expecting to see our numbers very close to what we projected.
“We may go a little bit over, but maybe not quite as crazy as what we were thinking when we compared to our October numbers.”
Those 942 hampers translate to over three quarters of the money the Interfaith Food Bank needs before ringing in the new year.
“We are going to be cautiously optimistic,” McIntyre said. “At our last count, we were at about 83 per cent of our Christmas campaign goal.
“With still some time before the end of the year, we’re crossing out fingers and being hopeful, but we are just not quite sure if we are going to get all of the funds that we were hoping for.”
All this work has meant additional stress for the numerous volunteers at the food bank.
“Keeping it festive and light and fun when it’s this busy has been a bit of a challenge,” McIntyre said. “But at the same time, it’s Christmas — this is what we do and we are ready for it.”
Organizations like the Interfaith Food Bank or the Lethbridge Soup Kitchen run on volunteers, and they can, according to Bill Ginther, the executive director of the soup kitchen, make a dramatic difference in the lives of those who require their services.
“It’s a tough time for people,” Ginther said.
“You know, Christmas, for a lot of people, is nothing to look forward to. It’s something that — more regret that you’re not with family and so on. So we do our best to create a very positive, hopeful environment — a very warm place.”
He said anyone, homeless or not, is welcome at the soup kitchen for a meal on Christmas or any other day of the year.
“Our primary purpose is for the homeless, but if people are in need, come,” Ginther said. “There’s no questions asked, you don’t qualify, just show up.”
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