BONNYVILLE - Community members were hustling and bustling on a snowy Saturday morning to deliver Knights of Columbus food hampers and bags of gifts collected by Bonnyville Centralized High School's Santa's Elves Program.
On Dec. 17, 277 families across the Bonnyville region from Truman to Iron River, Ardmore to Bonnyville and places in between, received Christmas food hampers and gifts for their children.
The deep snow that fell within just 24 hours of the delivery day made for a memorable experience, but it didn't stop volunteers from coming out in force to deliver Christmas cheer to those in need, said Knights of Columbus administrator Dave Scott.
“It was getting close to nine o'clock, and I thought ‘Oh jeez, I sure hope people show up,’ because the weather was so crappy,” Scott recalled, as he cleared snow outside the St. Louis Parish Hall early Saturday morning.
“I look over and sure enough there was a pile of vehicles in front of the Parish Hall, and I was so relieved because you go through all this effort and then you get this weather – it's always a rain or shine event – so no matter what happens, these hampers have got to go out. It just may take longer.”
But just as in the past, by 10:30 a.m. all the Christmas hampers and carefully wrapped gifts had been delivered to homes across the region.
“I am very thankful that the community showed up and volunteered, it was great,” he said.
Scott has been volunteering with the local branch of Knights of Columbus’s to help run its Christmas hamper program for the past 15 years.
Keeping up with trends taking place across the province and in urban centres, organizers were preparing for a large volume of hamper applicants.
“Provincially, prices of food have been going up and the media has been saying this has been harder on lower income people, so I just assumed there would be more demand,” Scott told Lakeland This Week. “And typically, from year to year there is, but this year it was the same and I have no idea why.”
The local record for Christmas hamper requests was 300, which occurred around 2018, he said.
When this year’s hamper requests were on par with the 2021 request, at about 280, organizers were somewhat surprised.
While the Christmas Hamper program did not see a jump in recipients, Scott says the usage of the hamper program should not be used to draw correlations of the area’s socio-economic climate.
“This year, we talked to the stores and told them we are trying to keep the cost at $100 for the hampers,” said Scott. “It seems like every year ever since I've been involved again, the cost is always going up for food, especially these days.”
When Scott first got involved, the cost of one Christmas hamper totalled roughly $55.
The hampers are put together by Sobey’s and Brosseau’s Department Store and include turkey, potatoes, bread, mandarin oranges and supplies for salad and several other items.
“Prices have definitely gone up and depending on what you're buying, it can be 10 to 20 per cent.”
At some point, the Knights of Columbus may have to change what is included in the hamper due to rising food costs, Scott acknowledged. “But hopefully we always have the basics.”
Despite product inflation, the program had no problem raising enough funds this year.
“The entire Bonnyville and area community is very generous,” Scott said.
While the program receives many private donations from community members, the organization is also fortunate to receive corporate donations from oil and gas companies and numerous local businesses.
This year, Fountain Tire in Bonnyville held a corporate challenge to encourage other businesses to raise money for the program, helping the Knights of Columbus reach their monetary goals.
Any surplus funds raised for the program are used to support the local food bank purchase fresh bread throughout the year, explained Scott.
Community support
Every year, the organization relies on word of mouth and community ambassadors to spread the word about the annual hamper delivery day and the need for delivery drivers.
While the number of volunteers was not recorded, Scott said the community turnout was incredible, just as it has been in the past.
“You can never say thank-you enough,” added Scott.
The Knights of Columbus has been partnering up with the Santa’s Elves Program for roughly 40 years based on old letters shared between the non-profit organization and Bonnyville Centralized High School.
