Salvation Army prepares for busy season

Christmas is a season of giving, and the Salvation Army wants to give a normal Christmas to families, and also get ready to support families in 2017.

There are many things that the Salvation Army needs explains Captain Glen Fraser. The first is toys, with their Christmas hamper program every kid under 14 in the family gets new toys. They do this because they want to create great family memories.

“Christmas is about children, the joy on their faces and the expressions that they get. As parents and grandparents ourselves, the joy is watching them open their gifts and watching their faces.”

The most challenging thing is finding a gift for older kids, Fraser says, and suggests things like sports equipment or event tickets could make sense for those kids. He notes that the Yorkton Terriers have come on board with free tickets to games.

“Just something so they can enjoy being a teenager or child for a while, free from the stress of what’s going on.”

Another thing the Salvation Army needs is time, especially as it needs volunteers to man the kettles at their locations around town. It’s two hour shifts, Fraser says, and it’s an easy way to help out.

“It’s nothing strenuous, we won’t sit you out in -40 weather. Two hours could mean that another family gets a hamper.”

Food is another thing that they need, and it’s something they always need, whether it’s in the middle of the Christmas season or the middle of July. The food donated now will be gone by March, Fraser says.

“January and February is actually a very busy time, people start to get Christmas bills that are put on credit, or it gets cold and people have to pay for the hydro or heat or whatever they use, it’s a hard time.”

In 2015, 295 families in Yorkton received a Christmas hamper, but Fraser predicts that they’re going to see over 300 receive a hamper this year. While the application process is finished, Fraser says they’re still receiving phone calls, and won’t turn anyone away.

“We’re trying to make sure that those who need it, get it.”

The hampers themselves come in the form of vouchers, and the reason for this is to give people the dignity of choosing what they want for a Christmas meal, explains Fraser.

“As far as I’m concerned, the parents should be every child’s hero. When they go to the store and the kids are with them, all they see is mom or dad going through the till, to us that’s the best thing, when the child looks up to their parents and says ‘thanks mom and dad,’ it’s worth it.”

The monthly use of the food bank is up in the city, with about 25 per cent more people using it. Fraser says an uncertain economy is having an affect on the city’s families.

“We have seen people who we have never seen before, and people who we saw a number of years ago are coming back.”

Nationally, 800,000 people use the food bank annually. While Christmas is the time of year when they raise the majority of their funds, Fraser emphasizes that they are here all year, and some of their greatest need comes after Christmas.

“That’s something to be astounded by, something that’s shocking. Four in ten children in our country are hungry.”

While it will be a challenging year, Fraser says that the community always comes through for the people in need within it, and he is confident that they will come through again.

“We’ve got great community support here, we are confident that we will get exactly what we need. And if we don’t, we’re in the faith business, it’s going to come in somehow. We will be successful, we have no doubt about that, as long as we do our part the community has always done their part for us.”