With so many people going through so much this year, the need for Christmas hampers has increased significantly.
Along with helping a number of local families have an enjoyable holiday, the Estevan Community Christmas Hamper Association has announced it also plans to supply hampers to families that were hit by this year's flooding.
"We wanted to lend a helping hand to them," said Char Seeman of the association. "They have been through a lot and a lot of them have lost their homes so we thought, that is what we are here for, we are a community hamper association and we thought we would make sure everybody had an extra special Christmas because they had such a crappy summer."
Seeman said the hampers contain all the items to make sure a family is able to have a great Christmas suppers from meat to turkeys to pasta to fresh vegetables.
Along with providing hampers to flood victims, the association also has its usual families they support each year. Seeman said their numbers are about the same as last year, noting that as of Monday they had 106 names on their list.
"If you exclude the flood hampers, we are right on schedule of what we were last year," she said. "The names were supposed to be in by (Sunday) but they come in right up to the 24th of December. We are making hampers December 24 to give to people."
Seeman said the association will need the support of local families and businesses to ensure they are able to meet the needs of the community. She noted that last year support was down, and they were forced to canvas the business community. If anyone is interested in donating cash or food items to the association, they can call Seeman at 421-9182.
Along with the hampers, the association also kicked off the Community Christmas Angel Tree Project Monday at Walmart.
The public is able to pick an angel off the tree and purchase an item for a needy child or donate toys or cash that will be used to buy toys.
Seeman noted that because the children they provide toys to are generally older, items such as snowboards, hockey sticks, MP3 players and electronic games are popular.
"We always seem to get more than Barbies and enough dolls. Educational games go over really well."
Volunteers will be manning the Angel Tree at Walmart from 1 to 8 p.m.
