Salvation Army program giving gift of Christmas to struggling families

December 17, 2024 Canuck

The Salvation Army gave parents who’ve fallen on hard times a shopping experience for their kids on Tuesday.

The annual Christmas hamper program gives parents grocery gift cards while kids under 12 can take a look around the free store and pick out a few toys for Christmas.

Cpt. Adriane Cartmell of the Salvation Army Edmonton Crossroads Community told CTV News Edmonton there were 126 registered families this year, including 173 children and 75 teenagers.

“We’ve got a lot of families who are just struggling,” said Cartmell. “For a lot of families … This is the only way that they have Christmas. Without it, it would just be another day on the calendar.”

“Our numbers have actually declined a little bit this year at our location. However, I know that the Christmas Bureau’s numbers have risen, and because we work in partnership, sometimes it goes one way or the other,” Cartmell added.

Money collected from donation kettles around the city is used to purchase gift cards for families and toys came from toy drive collections around the city.

Doreen Chalifoux is a single mother of six and struggles with buying presents while working a minimum wage job. She said using the Christmas hamper program allows her to give her kids the Christmas they deserve.

“I find that each year it gets tougher as my kids get older, and (with) the cost of everything going up, it’s getting really difficult at times living cheque to cheque,” said Chalifoux, who’s also a volunteer for the event.

“I love to come here and give back my time when I can, because it’s made such a big difference in my life,” she said.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Amanda Anderson

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