Toy donation bins can be found at Melfort Dairy Queen, Mohawk Animal Clinic, Western Financial, and the Coop Grocery Store. (Facebook/Cassie Davis)

By Angie Rolheiser

Christmas Hampers

Salvation Army in need of toy donations; take-out style Christmas dinner in the works

Dec 7, 2020 | 2:19 PM

A downturn in toy donations for the Melfort Salvation Army Christmas hamper campaign has the organization making a call for help.

The program is looking to serve 180 families this year according to Captain Rick Robins.

“There are still many families in need of help this year to help them make a Christmas,” Robins said. “We are short on toys and need to reach out into the community to help us help those families.”

Toys for younger children as well as ages eight to 12 for boys and girls are typically the difficult ones to get donations for but right now, each age category is very low.

“This great community has got us there each year and so we look forward to seeing folks stop by with their donations,” Robins said.

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Robins also expects there to be some last minute or emergency hampers to go out after the dispersal date in Melfort.

Hampers go out on Dec. 17 but volunteers hope they can begin packing hampers this week so the sooner the donations come in, the better.

“It takes a bit of time to put toys together for the 200-plus kids that we have,” Robins said. “We have a smaller space this year but with COVID-19 measures we can’t have the amount of volunteers that we normally have.”

Toy donations can be dropped off in the toy bins at Melfort Dairy Queen, Mohawk Animal Clinic, Western Financial, and the Coop Food Store.

Volunteers are needed to sit at Kettles as well for two-hour shifts in Melfort and Tisdale. Call Carmen at 306-921-4000 for the Melfort kettles or call Robins at 306-920-9166 for Tisdale kettles. Kettles operate from 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The Salvation Army’s traditional Christmas Day dinner will look a bit different this year and will be take-out style.

“We aren’t serving a hot meal this year so it will be pre-cooked,” Robins said. “It will be a meal that will be frozen like a microwave dinner so kind of like having Christmas dinner leftovers.”

Those wishing to receive a dinner can call the Thrift Store at 302-752-3525 and let them know how many people it is for so they can be individually packed. Delivery is also an option alone with pick-up from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

“It is sad that we can’t have that big meal together this year as its a phenomenal opportunity to meet with people and have some live Christmas music,” Robins said. “Everything is different this year but we try to do our best to make sure everyone is fed and have a good Christmas dinner.”

The dinner typically serves between 60 and 120 people each year.

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angie.rolheiser@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @Angie_Rolheiser