Of the total, 122 hampers went to families in Kamsack on December 15. Another 10 were delivered to families identified by Norquay Helping Hands, and 29 went to clients of Turning Point in Yorkton. The Kamsack hampers alone will support 465 people this Christmas season.
The project started in 2017 with 35 hampers being distributed and has grown every year. Last year it provided 114 hampers.
Volunteer help is crucial to a project this big, project organizer and SIGN Positive Impact social worker Candice Nelson points out. She had the help of 16 people to assemble the hampers in the week previous, and another eight helped assemble the fresh food items -- potatoes, carrots, ham, and eggs -- and add that to the hampers as families came to pick them up.
The hampers this year were made possible through the generous donations and assistance of the following businesses and organizations:
- Yorkton Tribal Council, $4,000
- Norquay Co-op, $2,500
- Norquay Helping Hands, $1,500
- SaskEnergy Share the Warmth Grant, $1,000
- Grain and General Services Union (Kamsack Local), $119
- Jay’s Transportation Ltd (Yorkton) donated boxes
- Members of St. Stephen’s Roman Catholic Church (Kamsack) donated money, food and homemade mittens
- Sarcan (Kamsack), McMunn & Yates (Kamsack) provided food and toques
- Salvation Army (Yorkton), 25 Co-op gift cards
Discounts and other assistance was provided by:
- Fields (Kamsack)
- Legacy Coop in Kamsack and Yorkton
- Robinson’s Family Foods (Norquay)
- Pelly Grocery Market
- Norquay Grocery Market
- Dollarama (Yorkton and Regina)
- Canadian Tire (Yorkton)
- Superstore (Yorkton and Regina)
- Walmart (Yorkton)
The hamper volunteer team this year included:
- SHA Public Health
- Indigenous Services Canada Outreach and Mobile nursing teams in Kamsack
- Norquay Co-op (volunteers to help put together and hand out hampers and trucking to pick up groceries in Yorkton)
- The people at Norquay Helping Hands
- Rock Olson (use of his shop to store groceries)
- SIGN team members including Shelley, Dale, and Andrea and Megan of the Kamsack Family Resource Centre
