Bonnyville’s Santa’s Elves helps 302 families
Santa’s Elves worked merrily last week to wrap presents for all the good boys and girls this holiday season. While the Knights of Columbus cheerfully filled Christmas Hamper baskets to bring smiles to the faces of 302 families.
Knights of Columbus Christmas Hamper Program Chair, Gene Sobolewski said the families helped were up substantially from previous years. “Last year, was 279, but on average we do around the 200 mark.” The Christmas Hamper program is the parent program to Santa’s Elves. All families on the Santa’s Elves program also receive a Christmas Hamper. However, there are some people that may not have children at home and are only on the Christmas Hamper program.
Each hamper has a turkey and all the food needed for a Christmas dinner. Sobolewski explains Knights of Columbus also likes to add a little extra food to help families through the holiday season.
“We never had anything this tight, we’re probably going to be a little shy of filling our order,” Sobolewski explains that should the group not have enough donated funds or goods they will reach into the reserve funds to make up the difference. This wasn’t for lack of generousity, said Sobolewski, “there was lots of generousity in the community, we had more families.”
The hampers and presents were delivered this past weekend; however, the Knights of Columbus are still accepting cash donations or gift cards to local grocery stores to help replenish their reserves.
Staff and students at Bonnyville Centralized High School (BCHS) put on their pointy hats and served as Santa’s Elves again this year. The wrapping party saw approximently 250 volunteers and wrapped over 2,000 presents in under three hours.
BCHS Santa’s Elves would like to extend a huge thank you to our many supporters, sponsors, wrappers, runners and volunteers. Without all of you this would not be possible. The many hours each and every one of you put into this initiative does not go unnoticed. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts! Know that you have made a difference. – Lynda Robb, Organizer Santa’s Elves
Sobolewski sends out a gracious thank you to the community. “Once again Bonnyville has stepped up! We would like to thank everyone for their support.” If you would like to further donate to the Christmas Hamper program, contact Gene Sobolewski at 780-573-1884.
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