SUNDRE – Nearly 300 people’s Christmases will be that much merrier and brighter this year thanks not only to outpouring community support but also the many helping hands of volunteers who put in hundreds of hours.
The main entrance area at the new and currently under renovations Western RV Country was just about bursting at the seams with food and gift donations for the annual Sundre Santas program, which is coordinated by the Greenwood Neighbourhood Place Society.
In 2023, a total of 114 hampers were packaged and went onto benefit 279 individuals. Recipients include single families as well as multiple families, multiple seniors, single adults and multiple adults, said Bree Odd, the society’s program coordinator.
This year, there were 116 hampers with a cumulative total of 291 people receiving a holiday hand-up courtesy of community donations, said Odd.
That did not include many more items destined for the Magic of Christmas sale on Saturday, Dec. 14 that is intended to offer children an opportunity to enjoy the experience of gift-giving.
Donny Krahn, the society’s executive director, told the Albertan on Dec. 9 during a tour of the workshop while volunteers busily finished preparing the hampers that the program’s success hinges entirely on the community’s support and all of the helping hands who don’t hesitate to pitch in to make it all possible.
Odd later followed up once the program had wrapped up to provide additional statistics about volunteer engagement and said there were 79 people involved in helping to deliver Sundre Santas who put in a cumulative total of 584 hours. There were approximately 40 who got involved with the Magic of Christmas Sale, along the way putting in about 134 hours, while 16 people put in 34 hours cleaning up the workshop afterward.
