Community Christmas Care is the heart of Squamish during Christmas. Its motto is “community caring by filling hampers with gifts, food and love in the Spirit of Christmas.”
Every year, the community lives up to that motto. Squamish Community Christmas has been serving the community for over 40 years. Every year, Community Christmas Care supports hundreds of people who need extra holiday help by filling hampers with food, toys and other goodies.
The year that has gone by was no different. Thanks to the truly amazing Squamish community, the 43rd season of Christmas Care could once again live up to this vision, generously sharing with folks who need extra help around the holidays.
In the end, Community Christmas Care made and delivered around 400 hampers to families in Squamish, benefitting over a thousand people, 50 families more than in 2022. Though it all comes along in December, this work begins in September with a small, dedicated group of volunteers who put in countless hours organizing and preparing for the application process, fundraising, ordering, and generally coordinating for a logistically complicated project.
Over the weeks leading up to when the hampers were delivered and picked up on December 17, more and more people got involved: individuals, businesses, schools, churches, and other organizations, who fundraised, collected, donated, and volunteered their time and services to make this project possible.
Community Christmas Care truly is a testament to the good we can do when we come together and do even a small part. I want to thank all the donors, volunteers and businesses who made our hamper program a great success in 2023. A full list of businesses and groups who supported this year’s hamper program can be seen on the Christmas Care website.
After a well-deserved rest, the Community Christmas Care team will meet soon to start planning for the 44th season of Christmas hampers in September. I urge you to consider how you might organize, donate or volunteer for this coming year so that you too can be part of ‘community caring for community.’
Rev. Cameron Gutjahr is a priest at the St John the Divine Squamish.
