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Chatham

Several organizations team up to give 'The Gift' to Chatham-Kent

A new initiative is making its way to Chatham-Kent that aims to make sure every person in the municipality has a happy holiday during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Gift will be taking place on November 21 at noon. Residents across Chatham-Kent are encouraged to place a present on their doorstep and an event volunteer will pick it up, and then it will be donated to a community member in need.

A variety of groups and organizations from across the municipality will come together to put on the event including the Chatham Goodfellows, Salvation Army, as well as several local Christmas hamper programs.

"Our vision of this is that no one goes without," said Volunteer Coordinator Luke Davidson. "Whether it's kids, families, another big one is it doesn't matter your religion, what you believe whether it's Christmas or not Christmas. If you're part of Chatham-Kent and you're in need, we're here to help."

The concept was inspired by the May 16th Miracle in Chatham-Kent, where residents placed non-perishable food items on their doorsteps. Over 678,200 pounds of food was collected during the initiative and donated to local food banks.

Davidson said he's optimistic that generosity can be replicated.

"Chatham-Kent needed it on May 16 and Chatham-Kent came and provided what we needed," he said. "Because it's been proven that we've done it, we're going to do it again. Even more so because we're adding in the holiday season."

Volunteers will be going to every home in the municipality to collect items and no registration is required. There will also be drop off depots for those living in rural areas. Any smaller communities that wish to do door to door pick up are asked to decide by November 5.

Organizer Brent Wilken said there are a number of different items that people can place on their doorstep for donations.

"Clothes, books, anything they'd like to put out there for their neighbour, toys and food being the number one ask," he said.

One of the other community members involved, Kayla Stefic, recommends that people donate craft supplies so that children can make personalized gifts for their parents.

"I'm going to collect it all and I plan to make craft kids for the kids," she said. "I'm going to put craft supplies in bags little bags and they can make their loved ones a craft for Christmas. I think little things like that are what really ignites that spark in a family."

Besides donating, there are several other ways people can get involved with The Gift including helping with the pickups, sign making, acting as a community captain and sorting and distributing the donations.

According to Davidson, the initiative is already off to an amazing start.

"The first meeting where we invited a lot of community members and people to join was last Thursday via Zoom call. We had over 120 people join that call," said Davidson. "We put the call out saying we need volunteers to help and in 24 hours we had over 410 people saying they're going to help."

More information about specific routes is expected in the next few weeks.

Any organization in Chatham-Kent that has been impacted by the pandemic and has had to reduce holiday fundraising is encouraged to contact organizers by emailing thegiftck.ca@gmail.com if they would like to be a part of The Gift.

More information on the event and becoming a volunteer can be found by clicking here. 

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