The holidays are a great time to reflect and remind our selves about how lucky we truly are. There are a lot of people who are struggling and if you aren't one of those people I encourage you to give back to your community. There are so many ways you can help give this holiday season listed below are just a few ideas.
1. This year the Daily Bread Food Bank is seeing a rise in the number of people using its services. With an increase in unemployment, over 80,000 families are now relying on the Daily Bread Food Bank to put food on their tables. Right now the Daily Bread Food Bank is running its holiday drive so there are 3 ways you can help out.
The first way is to consider organizing your own food drive or fund drive. A few students at Holy Name School banded together a few weeks ago and knocked on doors in our area asking for donations for the Food Bank which I thought was very admirable. Secondly you can drop off nutritious, non-perishable food donations to your local fire hall, Loblaws, Loblaw Great Food, No Frills, valu-mart or Real Canadian Superstore. Lastly you can volunteer at the Daily Bread Food Bank and help package these foods for needy families.
Also on December 10th BT and Home Depot have teamed up to raise money for the Daily Bread Food Bank. Home Depot and BT are handing out Christmas trees to those who donate at least $10 to the Daily Bread Food Bank. This will be at Yonge and Dundas square starting at 6am till 9am, so get their early!
2. Another great way to give this holiday season is to donate a new and unwrapped toy to either Toy Mountain or the Chum Christmas Wish.
Toy Mountain is sponsored by CTV and the Salvation Army. They have teamed up together for their 15th year with a goal to collect 120,000 toys for kids in need. Each day CTV's Tom Brown is at a special location across the city collecting toys for young girls and boys. Please check out their website to see where you can drop of your new and unwrapped toy. http://toronto.ctv.ca/toymountain/
This year also marks the 44th annual Chum Christmas Wish. With the help of RBC the Chum Christmas Wish has become one of the largest distributors of toys to those in need in the Greater Toronto Area, as well as providing financial assistance to hundreds of agencies. With many funding cuts in recent years, the CP24 CHUM Christmas Wish has become the last hope for many to be able to give a child a Christmas. The CP24 CHUM Christmas Wish supplies registered charitable organizations, social service agencies, churches, and community centres with generous financial donations and new unwrapped toys. In turn, these groups distribute the donations to those families, of many faiths and cultures, who require support. To find out locations where you can donate please check out their website: http://shows.ctv.ca/TheWish.aspx
3. For over 118 years the Salvation Army Christmas Kettle Campaign has been a great way for people to give back to their local community. In Canada, Christmas kettles were first used in St. John’s, Newfoundland in 1906. Today, the familiar kettles and bell ringers are seen in more than 2000 locations nationwide. The Salvation Army supports many programs in your local community and to read more about some of their services please check out their website online at http://www.salvationarmy.ca/services/
These are just 3 simple ways to give this holiday season! There are so many charities that need our support so if you aren't interested in any of these please think of donating to another charity close to your heart. Even if you can't afford to give money you can always give back by volunteering, as there are never enough volunteers out there!
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