Nearly 1,300 households are having a merrier holiday, thanks to the “gift of choice” from the Christmas Baskets program.
The program is run by the Community Resource Centre, a non-profit organization which also operates the Brantford Food Bank and Community Employment Service programs.
Each year, the Christmas Baskets program traditionally handed out turkeys, food, and toys for the holiday season. During COVID-19, the restrictions of the pandemic prompted them to switch to primarily giving out gift cards.
They’ve continued to distribute gift cards to families that register, with the gift cards meant to support them with their food and toy purchases for the holidays.
Heather Vanner, Executive Director of the Community Resource Centre, said they like to call the program the “gift of choice,” as the gift cards provide people with the opportunity to choose things that their families love.
“We all know as donors, when we donate a toy, how good it feels to go and select a toy for a child and then donate it to a program like ours to be able to support families,” Vanner said. “But by giving a gift card, you’re also giving that parent or that guardian or that grandparent the opportunity to select something that they know their child would love, whether it’s a toy or certain holiday foods.”
“That’s a gift in itself, to give them the dignity and the choice to be able to go and actually choose something for their children,” added Vanner. “It means a lot.”
Most of the Christmas Baskets were given out on December 9 to families who had registered in advance. Vanner called it her “favourite day” of the year.
“What amazes me about a day like today is how the team comes together, first of all, in our organization to support the people that are coming in the door, but also the volunteers that come and help us,” Vanner said.
Vanner estimated that 50-60 volunteers were on hand to work the registration table and give out the Christmas Baskets in early December.
Vanner also loves being able to connect with the people who are using the service.
“Just seeing the gratefulness on their faces when we’re able to support them and help them, it’s rewarding,” Vanner said. “It’s good to be able to support people right now through the holiday season.”
Last year, the program supported over 1,600 households in Brantford and the County of Brant.
While typically they are able to provide a Christmas Basket to everyone who needed the support, this year, for the first time, they had put a cap on registrations.
“From a donation perspective, we knew the need was going to be high and that we had to be realistic about how much money we could actually raise to be able to get the gift cards that we needed,” Vanner said.
When they opened registration for the program, they expected to leave it open for two weeks. It filled up within two days.
“That tells me the need, tells us how many people in the city are struggling,” Vanner said.
Part of that is because of additional stressors and costs during the holiday season.
“We know that there are some families out there who have been able to kind of make it through the year and be able to kind of scrape by, but this is a time of year where it’s that much harder,” Vanner said. “Expenses go up… the cost of living right now is high for people, particularly low income.”
For those who may have missed out on the Christmas Baskets program, Vanner emphasized that the Brantford Food Bank is still open in December. “That program is still open and available to anyone who needs support through the holidays,” Vanner said.
From this year, she’s going to remember seeing people come together and watching those interactions with people in the community truly wanting to help others.
“That’s the message of the season, right?” Vanner said. “Being there for other people, supporting our community, supporting people who are in need. And giving a little more of yourself at this time of year.”
