If you’ve got an urge to donate this holiday season, give in to that feeling. Some Vancouver charities are relying on your generosity to get them through their biggest projects and the upcoming year.
“We generate close to 75 per cent of what we do on an annual basis throughout the holiday period,” said Kay Thody, communications director for the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society. It moves an average of 8.5 million pounds of food per year.
“Like many non-profit organizations, it is the busiest time of year for us. And part of the reason it is so critical is because that percentage is generated in such a short time frame, and that gives us an indication to what the next year is going to look like.”
Thody said summer is generally the most difficult time of year for the food bank, so the more donations they receive during the holiday period when people are in the giving spirit, the better.
By summer, most food banks have exhausted their holiday donations and people are less inclined to donate at that time of year.
“As a family you’ve got increased costs, whether it be for childcare or summer programming, then additionally you’ve got no access to school-based meal programs,” said Thody. “Summer can be a really difficult time for families and in turn it makes it difficult for a lot of food banks to meet the need during that time.”
AIDS Vancouver, which runs a year-round grocery program for 1,200 clients and their 238 children on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, receives the majority its food donations during December and January.
“There is an outpouring of extra foods and blankets and warm clothing,” said Monica Freudenreich, volunteer resources supervisor at AIDS Vancouver.
It also runs a special holiday grocery event to provide enough groceries for 800 people living with HIV and their families to get through the holiday season. It recruited for 70 volunteer positions and received close to 100 applications to volunteer.
YWCA Metro Vancouver runs Presents of Peace, a hamper program for its clients, during the holiday season. The program, which is already sold out, gives the gift of Christmas to more than 375 single mothers and their children.
“Single moms who would normally never be able to buy gifts for their children are now able to give them a Christmas that’s memorable, and even get gifts for themselves, too, which is really something that single moms rarely think about,” said Chantelle Krish, manager of advocacy and public relations for YWCA Metro Vancouver.
