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Community Hamper Association accepting applications

The Estevan Community Hamper Association only recently started accepting applications and referrals for 2019, but it has already seen a significant increase in the number of people looking for a hamper.

The Estevan Community Hamper Association only recently started accepting applications and referrals for 2019, but it has already seen a significant increase in the number of people looking for a hamper.

The association has received more than 100 applications already this year, which is above normal, according to Char Seeman, who co-chairs the association with Heather Woodhouse.

She cited the state of the local economy for the increase in demand for hampers, as there’s still a lot of unemployment in the Estevan area.

“We’d normally probably have about 40 or 50 applications by this time, but we’ve had a lot of people coming into the Salvation Army, applying for hampers, and then of course we get all of the applications from the Salvation Army. They give them to us,” said Seeman.

The Salvation Army fills hampers 11 months of the year through the food bank, and the association does them before Christmas.

More than 300 hampers were filled last year.

The association has scaled back the size of the hampers due to the growing demand. The contents of the hampers are uniformed, depending on the size of the recipient family.

There will be sufficient food for Christmas Day, Seeman said, including turkey, potatoes, carrots, corn, buns, bread, stuffing, ingredients to make gravy, Mandarin oranges and anything else that would typically be used to prepare a Christmas supper.

“Every hamper has the same things in it, it’s just that if it’s an extra large hamper or a large hamper you get two cans of corn instead of one can of corn. You get a bigger bag of potatoes, you get a bigger bag of carrots, you get a bigger turkey.”

Some cereal for breakfast is also included. But ketchup and other condiments that used to be included in hampers won’t be provided any longer.

The growing demand for hampers means that they need more people to step forward to fill the hampers, or to make donations to the hamper association.

“We know a lot of people can make it 11 months of the year, but that 12th month, you have to choose between buying food for Christmas or paying your power bill or your phone bill, and it’s definitely tough for people, so we try to help them out the best we can,” she said.  

The deadline to apply for a hamper is Dec. 9. Hampers will be delivered from Dec. 20-23.

The Community Hamper Association also operates the Angel Tree Program. Trees will be set up at the Estevan Walmart, Your Toy Store and More and Mr. Mike’s Steakhouse Casual from Dec. 2-14.

Each angel is either blue for boys or pink for girls, and will have an age inscribed. Supporters pluck an angel from the tree, and purchase an age and gender-appropriate gift, and then bring it back to where they picked the angel. 

Cash donations will also be accepted.

Toy drives are slated at Your Toy Store and More and Canadian Tire with the Estevan Fire Rescue Service and the Estevan RCMP, while the Estevan Police Service will have their Pack the Cruiser toy driver at local schools Dec. 4 and 5.

The toys that are purchased will be stored. Then they will be placed at the toy store at St. Giles Anglican Church on Dec. 18 and 19. Hamper recipients with children can pick up a toy to round out the hamper.

Seeman noted they still need some more Angel Tree volunteers.

Last year more than 400 children received a toy through the Angel Tree.

New for this year is that if people will be at a friend’s or family member’s for Christmas, but still needs help with a gift for their children, they can submit an application to the hamper association, and request just toys.

“We’ll make sure you get an invite to the Angel Tree, and we’ll get you some toys for your kids,” said Seeman.

A lot of potential hamper recipients will be spending Christmas at a friend’s house, so they don’t need the food, but they still need toys for kids. They would also have to meet the hamper association’s criteria for help with purchasing toys.

As of Nov. 8, the association had received just one application for just toys.