North Hastings Community Cupboard hopes the community is in the spirit of giving as they prepare to launch their holiday campaign.
While you can donate at any time to the Community Cupboard, their official holiday campaign launches on December 1st during Bancroft’s Christmas parade. Monica Piercey, Director on the Board for the North Hastings Community Cupboard, says they will be giving Turkey, Chicken or Ham to people depending on what they prefer. Along with that, they’re asking people to bring warm socks to the parade along with non-perishable food items.
Piercey adds that they will be giving out gift cards, which is new this year. After volunteers surveyed people who received the food baskets during last year’s holiday program, they found that some of the items given out weren’t used by the people who got them. “This way people can create their own traditions based on their own needs,” Piercy says. “We felt it would be in their best interest to allow them to shop a little bit more,” she added.
This year Piercy says there’s been a big jump in registrations. 114 households have registered so far, which is up from the 75 that were registered at this time last year. Piercy says the need is always high during the holidays.
“One of the things we’re really working hard on is removing the stigma associated with poverty,” Piercy says. This program helps the people in the community that are less fortunate, but it also helps people who might be going through a tough few months because they lost their job or had to pay thousands of dollars for a car repair.
Every donation counts, whether it’s a small one of a big one. “Even just stocking our shelves goes a long way,” Piercy says.