The 39th annual Irish Miracle returns to its pre-COVID glory on Saturday.
St. Patrick's Catholic High School Teacher Vanessa Borody said for the first time in three years, students will be canvassing door-to-door in Sarnia, including Bright's Grove, and Point Edward.
"It will depend on how many canvassers we get out, but we hope to do the whole city," Borody said. "In the past, we've received anywhere from 7,000 to 9,000 bags of food, so of course, that would be wonderful, and I know St. Vincent de Paul needs it more now than they had in the past... so of course 9,000 bags would be incredible, but even 6,000 would be wonderful."
Borody said students will be out from 9 a.m. to noon.
"The best thing the citizens of Sarnia can do is leave things in a bag, marked Irish Miracle [on their front step] and then it just makes the whole collection quicker, so we can hit as many houses as possible."
Borody said she's always amazed by the participation of present and past students.
"I have a group of alumni coming, and I've had a lot of alumni reach out. Our sign-up really just started [last] Friday and it goes all week, but on the very first day of sign-ups, I had 115 students sign up. Which is pretty fantastic, considering they have all of this week to sign up."
Borody, also a former student, recalls the impact participating in the food drives has had on her.
"I did the Irish Miracle for the first time in 1994 with my friends and my dad came out and helped me. He drove and he still remembers and talks about it. It kind of kicks off that Christmas spirit. It makes you feel like you're starting off the Christmas season doing something really amazing."
Borody said if your house is missed, or you won't be home, donations can also be dropped off at the school.
"Historically, we had done different churches, but this year we are taking every single item that we collect back to St. Pat's and it's being sorted here and then boxed and sent over to St. Vincent de Paul. So, if you have anything to donate [Saturday], probably I would say the cut off time is [2 p.m.] we will be open and accepting any donations if you get missed or if, unfortunately, your area doesn't get canvassed, because it does depend on how many volunteers we get."