Local charities are appealing for help to make sure no one is in need this holiday season.
Volunteers spend the day at the horticulture building at Lansdowne preparing for Thursday when about 150 volunteer will fill hundreds of holiday hampers full of items to make a Christmas dinner.
Cindy Smith with the Caring and Sharing Exchange says “sometimes there are difficult choices to make. And Christmas dinners may be one of those things that goes by the wayside.
But they say with only 6 days left until Christmas there is still a waitlist.
“We have about a thousand more people in need... we have seen significant growth.”
For more information you can visit here. (www.caringandsharing.ca)
The Ottawa Food Bank also seeing a increase need this season. food programs in areas that were affected by the September tornadoes have seen an increased need of 14%. For more information you can visit here.
The Shepherds of Good Hope put the call out last week for more donations after it was less than halfway to its fundraising goal. It has seen an uptick but is still behind its goal.
“We are still about a thousand donors which translate into 110-thousand dollars less than this time last year,” says Neil Leslie, with the Shepherds of Good Hope Foundation. For more information you can click here.
Meanwhile, the iconic kettle campaign says it is close to 70 percent to its fundraising goal, and is counting on busy shopping days to help fill the kettle.
Glenn Van Glukik says, “The week before Christmas is always a busy time when people are out getting those last minute gifts... we see a lot of donations coming in the last week.. We are at about 60-70 percent of our campaign.
The kettle campaign will be in store until December 24th.
