The Squamish Community Christmas Care program is celebrating 45 years of preparing and delivering Christmas hampers filled with food, toys and other goodies to those who could use a little extra help around the holidays.
“I think one of our most important purposes is to help one another. And this is just a really beautiful way to do that,” said program Chair Cameron Gutjahr.
Distributing the hampers can be an emotional experience, he said, making people feel seen and cared for. “I have helped load a single mom’s car and she is crying because of how surprised she is about the impact of receiving the hampers. It can really be quite, quite beautiful for folks and impactful,” Gutjahr said.
Last year, about 430 hampers were delivered, meaning nearly 1000 individuals benefited from Community Christmas Care. While the organizers are still counting this year’s applications, they expect it to be similar to last year.
Beginning in 1980 as a coordinated effort between local churches, it has since evolved into a community effort involving business, organizations and individuals. “It’s a real legacy,” said Gutjahr. “It’s one of the things that I am part of in Squamish that is really beautiful in that it has been going on for so long.”
The people accessing the program are very wide ranging, Gutjahr said. “Single parents, big families, newcomers to Canada, seniors living alone, all sorts of different families.”
“There are all sorts of reasons why people might need it,” Gutjahr said. “There’s the people that you would expect, but then all of a sudden there is someone whose car breaks down, or loses their job and all of sudden they are like, you know what, Christmas is going to be tough and I could use this little hand and we are happy to offer that hand.”
Stephanie Acker has been involved with Squamish Christmas Community Care for over 20 years. She heard of the program through the Squamish Baptist Church, where she met two of the founders, Jack and Shirley Purdie. Despite their passing, their dream holds strong in the hands of volunteers like Acker and Gutjahr.
Acker is the treasurer and “Santa’s helper” for the program, helping run “Santa’s Workshop,” where the toys are collected, organized and packaged. “We prepare each toy hamper with as much love as we can…We just try to make it a good Christmas for the kids in the community.”
The hampers are tailored towards the needs of the family or individual receiving it, as much as possible. Acker said toy donations are sorted based on age appropriateness, and volunteers spend time choosing suitable gifts. On the application form, families are invited to share the age, size, preferences and interests of their children. New gifts are also bought with the donation money: clothing such as hoodies, pajamas and jackets are popular items, as well as specific toys. They try to make sure that they fulfill at least one thing off of each child’s wishlists, said Acker.
Although food is included in the hampers, Acker said they no longer collect food donations. They now collect money donations which they use to purchase food in bulk. “We can get a better deal by purchasing a bulk amount than what an individual can get at a grocery store buying the exact same items,” said Acker. It also reduced food waste. “Sometimes donations would come in and we literally threw out more food than we kept because it was all expired,” she added.
Acker said the most exciting day is delivery day, which will happen on December 16. “The vibe around the depot on that day is quite energized. There’s movement happening all day long. Quite often, it’s even hard to stop for a break. It’s just constantly like a parade of cars…lots of excitement, lots of people happy to help.”
Sea to Sky Catalyst Pastor Justin Knapp moved to Squamish just over a year ago and is already helping with Community Christmas Care. “I’m just really excited about being able to spread some extra holiday cheer and show our community that we care for them,” he said.
Knapp is currently helping coordinate meals for volunteers and expects to be feeding anywhere from 20 to 50 people. Again, generous community donors play an important part.
It is always very rewarding to help people, Knapp said, ensuring they know that they matter and are cared for. “It’s so easy to get kind of internally focused and, you know, playing the comparison games and thinking you need more, but this is a great reminder of how much you may have. And a way that you can exercise that gratitude for that is by practicing generosity and passing that along and, and helping those out who may actually have it worse than you,” Knapp said.
“My invitation to people reading this is to support, to find out more, to help out,” Gutjahr said. “It’s always kind of a miracle that it comes together, and it always does, but we can’t do it without so many people. Whether people can do a lot or a little, it all just makes a huge difference.” Gutjahr said people can visit the Squamish Community Christmas Care website to find out the various ways they can support, including donating, volunteering or engaging in fundraising activities.
Fundraising events will occur throughout November and December. Businesses and organizations have begun to put out boxes to collect donations of new, unwrapped toys for infants, children and teenagers. The list of donation locations can be found on their website. On November 22, the RCMP, paramedics, firefighters and other first responders will gather at Walmart, where they will invite people to make a donation by leaving a toy on one of their vehicles.
“It’s truly a community-wide effort,” said Gutjahr. “And we are just so indebted to already a number of businesses and groups that have been so hugely helpful.”
“Just a huge thank you to everyone who participates with the smallest donation to the simplest of help with whatever task,” said Acker.
