Putting together a Christmas Dinner can be stressful for anyone. For some, poverty makes it almost impossible. That's why the Central Okanagan Food Bank brings in extra volunteers to make sure that some of our most vulnerable residents have some help in making Christmas special.
"It's a really, really big day," said Food Bank spokesperson Tammy Williams. "This year when we forecasted about a 20 percent increase." So between the Kelowna and West Kelowna branches of the food bank, there will be about 2,200 hampers go out this year. Williams reminds people that to keep up with the demand, the organization relies on the generosity in the community. "And the community really does always seem to step-up," added Williams. "It's just been weeks and weeks and weeks of successful food donations and fund drives."
As the Christmas hamper week gets underway, the food bank opened it's doors to the news media, and the first thing you notice is all of the volunteers on hand helping out. "We have our, I like to call them our regular contingent of volunteers, the people who are volunteering each and every day with us," noted Williams, "but we also have some organizations and businesses that also join us.
For people like Neil Mitchell, who came to pick up his hamper on a cold and snowy Monday, it's the best Christmas gift he could hope for. "I love it," said Mitchell. "Everybody here is friendly I love everybody."
For volunteers like Melody Drescher, the joy of giving is in every hamper. "We start off with some produce," said Drescher, "canned good, dry goods, dairy and turkey!"
People will be picking up their hampers all week long.
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