DIDSBURY - Didsbury and area residents once again dug deep this year to help out their neighbours. The Didsbury Christmas Helpers hamper program was on target to give out 150 hampers to families in the area, said organizers.
Gift wrappers and sorters were to gather at Zion Church on Dec. 20 to put the hampers together with distribution following a day later.
"People have really stepped up this year," said Linda Sirr, who co-organizes the program with Linda Regner. "We can't say enough about the generosity of the residents of Didsbury and area."
Rural Alberta Ride for Dad stepped up again this year teaming with AG Foods in Didsbury to collect food for the hampers.
Greg Poirier, AG Foods' store manager, said they work with Ride for Dad every year.
"We have these $10 gift bags that we've been running for about six weeks now," said Poirier. "We started it up just after Remembrance Day. We set the bags up and the customers buy them. We then set them up in boxes for the Ride for Dad in conjunction with the Christmas Helpers for the Didsbury area."
Meghan Carter of Ride for Dad said the organization has been involved with the hamper program for a number of years.
"We want to help out in the community for those who need help," said Carter.
Poirier said although numbers may be down this year with the gift bags due to the economy, he's still very pleased with how they've done.
"This is just one more way of giving back and helping out," he said.
In all, the Ride for Dad crew and AG Foods collected more than 1,100 pounds of food for the hampers.
