Kenneth Brown
of The Clarion

It’s the season for giving, and the organizers of an area Christmas Hamper program hope people are in the giving spirit as they collect donations of food and money.

The Kindersley branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) has been operating a Christmas Hamper program for more than 50 years. Program volunteers are set up at the Kindersley Mall to accept donations of food and money until Dec. 20.

Christmas hampers are available to anybody living in the boundaries of the former Heartland Health Region, but the majority of recipients live in the Kindersley area. The Saskatchewan Health Authority was proclaimed on Dec. 4, but the hamper program still applies to the Heartland boundaries.

Pam Welter, manager of the CMHA branch in Kindersley, said the donation drop-off location at the mall would be open Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. pending the availability of volunteers. If the drop-off location is closed or if donors want to ensure somebody is there because they’re making a large donation, they can contact Welter at 306-463-8052. There will be a spot at the mall for food donations after hours.

Welter, a co-ordinator for the program, said 151 hampers were packed in 2016 and 98 of those went to recipients in Kindersley.

[emember_protected for=”2″ custom_msg=’For more on this story, please see the Dec. 6 print edition of The Clarion.’]

Applications for the Christmas Hamper program will be accepted until Dec. 18 and recipients will pick up their hampers on Dec. 21. Applications are available at the mall, the Salvation Army thrift store in Kindersley, West Central Crisis and Family Support Centre, and Spokes – the Kindersley Family Resource Centre.

Donations of food and money will be accepted until the day before people pick up their hampers. Welter said no donation goes to waste because any leftover items will go to other groups that offer emergency food security.

If people want to make a cash donation to the program using a personal cheque, the cheque must be made out to the Canadian Mental Health Association. There have been several instances when people made cheques payable to the food bank and those cheques cannot be cashed.

Welter said the CMHA will not pack food items in hampers if they’re beyond their best-before dates, so people are asked to make sure the donated food is not past the date. She said food ends up in the garbage if the best-before date has past.

The Salvation Army supplies all of the turkeys for the Christmas hampers and the West Central Crisis and Family Support Centre supplies gifts for children.

People who would like more information regarding applications or donations can contact Welter at 306-463-8052. You can leave a message if she’s unable to answer at the time of the call.

The CMHA only operates the hamper program for the month of December, so co-ordinators work with food banks and other groups to ensure there’s no duplication of services. Depending on the community, there are different arrangements.

“We do utilize the local food banks and food security committees in the communities, and we utilize their services,” she said. The program only provides complete packages for people in the Kindersley area and in small communities with no other food security options.

For example, the Kindersley and District Food Bank supplies people with a week’s worth of food for 11 months of the year, but the CMHA covers that food security for Kindersley residents in December in addition to a full Christmas package, Welter said. The CMHA doesn’t provide food security in all communities.

Doreen Gramlich, a staff member at the crisis centre, said the organization holds an annual toy drop at an Iron Horse Kindersley Klippers home game. The toy drop takes place on Dec. 13  at a game versus the Nipawin Hawks.

People are asked to bring new, unwrapped toys to the game next Wednesday and all of the toys will be given to children as part of the Christmas Hamper program.

Gramlich said the centre used to hold a teddy bear toss, but then protective netting was installed at the West Central Events Centre and organizers had to switch to a toy drop. Every child deserves a toy under the tree at Christmas time, she added.

[/emember_protected] Christmas hamper program