Residents are encouraged to take part in a new Santa's Anonymous initiative this year and be a Secret Santa for a less fortunate individual.
Santa's Anonymous volunteers have asked each individual or family referred to the program what they need or want for Christmas this year, and have created Secret Santa stickers with suggested items for people to buy.
The stickers are located at various participating businesses in town, including Greenwood Neighbourhood Place, X-Stream Clothing, Home Hardware, Pharmasave, Sundre Community Drug Mart, V & S Department Store and Bargain Browzer.
“The purpose of the program is really to make sure the people who are receiving Santa's Anonymous hampers receive the things that they need the most,” said Kim Free, outreach coordinator for Greenwood Neighbourhood Place (GNP).
Santa's Anonymous is a GNP program that supports less fortunate people living in Sundre during the Christmas season.
Free was the program coordinator last year and says she found it challenging to match the needs of individuals with the donated items.
“There are many people in financial need in our community and Christmas is a stressful time for a lot of individuals and families,” she said.
“And I think this Secret Santa system so directly identifies the needs of the people in our community and matches them up with exactly what they want or need for Christmas,” she added.
“When people receive exactly what they need it will certainly bring joy to their lives.”
There is no specific price range for each gift but people are asked to purchase one, two or three of the suggested items on each Secret Santa sticker.
A goal of the program is for people to shop locally, which is why the stickers are located at various businesses in town.
“It's like one-stop shopping. You can go into one of those businesses, get one of the stickers, shop at that business or another local business. And then a lot of the businesses also have donation bins – so you can put the gift that you choose right in the donation bin there in the store,” she said.
“It's like a win-win because you're supporting local businesses plus you're supporting local families – it's just a wonderful program for Sundre.”
The deadline to refer people to the program is Dec. 12. For more information, contact GNP or program coordinator Sarah Kennedy at 403-638-8190 or via email [email protected].
