Christmas Hope seeking volunteers as campaign prepares to assist 10,500 people

LETHBRIDGE -

With a steady flow of donations coming in, staff and volunteers with Lethbridge Family Services' (LFS) Angel Tree Campaign have already begun to pack bundles for those in need ahead of the holiday season.

"It's been very busy already," said Dryden Roesch, marketing manager with LFS.

"We've bundled gifts for just about 1,200 kids at this point."

The annual campaign sees LFS, MyCityCare's Shop of Wonders, the Salvation Army, Volunteer Lethbridge, the Interfaith Food Bank and Lethbridge Food Bank come together to support those in need.

Last year, the campaign helped 9,500, a rise from 8,000 in 2022.

"We are ballparking 10,500 people this year," said Danielle McIntyre, executive director of the Interfaith Food Bank.

"Although we may have been a little low in looking at the recent numbers we've seen."

Donations of toys, clothing and food are being collected.

Helping hands are needed.

"Volunteers primarily do everything and so, when we have so many more families coming for help at Christmastime, we need more bodies to get that work done," McIntyre said.

"So, what we end up doing is doubling up on some of our volunteer shifts to make sure there's enough hands on deck."

More than 1,000 volunteers will donate their time this holiday season, with nearly 500 assisting the Angel Tree Campaign.

"We're seeing a lot of sign-ups for gift bundlers, which is great," Roesch said.

"We do, however, need to fill some gift delivery driving shifts, so folks who kind of operate Santa's sleigh, in a way. We need people to spend about two hours driving and delivering the bundles to those who have signed up for the program."

To help, Volunteer Lethbridge has begun recruiting and placing volunteers within the five non-profit organizations.

McIntyre says the commitment to help can be anything from an hour to multiple times leading up to the holidays.

"When you're giving of your time, Christmas is a great time for those one-offs and we will use Christmastime as an opportunity to kind of seek out those ones that might want to stay with us long-term," she said.

"It's a small commitment, but the effect is felt throughout our community."

A full list of volunteer opportunities can be found at https://volunteerlethbridge.com/.