Christmas time is known as a time for giving, as well as for celebrations with friends and family, and everything that goes with it, including all the traditions that have grown over the years in each family or group of friends.
This is also a perfect time for residents to try developing new traditions, and one of those could be to help people out as they face tough situations in their lives.
Helping out could be as simple as collecting a few non-perishable food items while shopping for groceries, and depositing it in the collection bin for the Salvation Army’s food bank.
The Salvation Army has ongoing needs for their food bank all year round, plus they have additional needs as families and individuals make application for some help at Christmas time, whether for some food or for a Christmas hamper that provides some presents as well.
The kettle campaign will soon be starting up for the Salvation Army, and the proceeds from this helps to keep the other programs offered by the Salvation Army going in the community. They need volunteers who can take two hours of their day and man a kettle at one of their locations, and of course, they need your spare change (or your loose bills) to help fill the kettles and help out a lot of people.
An alternative some families or individuals might consider is the adopt-a-family program, where a donor undertakes to provide the Christmas needs of a family. This is a project that can involve everyone in a family or from a group or organization.
There are other ways to give, of course, and these should not be forgotten either. Currently there are some gofundme pages for people who need a helping hand.
One local volunteer, Brent Allin, was recently helped out greatly as he needed to replace a van to provide him mobility, and through the efforts of a lot of different people and groups, he will have a new van to get around in.
A Weyburn native and former captain of the Weyburn Red Wings, Preston Shupe, and his wife Mariah, are living in Belgium and need some help for their baby daughter Winnie who is having some serious health issues. They would like to be able to bring Winnie back to Canada for treatment once she is strong enough, and a gofundme page has been raising funds to help this young family out.
This is by no means an exhaustive list, as there are many, many more needs out there that need our attention, so don’t forget to lend a hand if you’re able.
