The Christmas Food Boxes prepared every
year by the Oxford Lionettes are now filled for 45 families, including 62
children, who are receiving this seasonal help.
“The
boxes are meant to give a little extra help to those who can’t quite make it
through the Christmas season, with all of the costs involved,” explained
Heather MacDonald, president of the Lionettes club and also a volunteer with
the Oxford Food Bank and a member of Trinity United Church in Oxford.
According
to Heather, some of the people on the list use the food bank regularly but she
said for more than half, it’s a one-time thing.
“They’re trying to
buy Christmas presents and pay the bills so that little extra, like a turkey
and groceries, just helps out.”
But
while demand for the boxes is not dropping, the number of donations is. The
community groups and organizations that the Lionettes have received financial
support from for more than 20 years are dwindling in membership, or even
disbanding. Heather sent out eight fewer letters to churches and organizations
this year.
“We
also have struggled with food donations for a number of years,” she added. “It
started out with all the churches doing white gifts. On the day we used to do
the White Gift service, we would take all the gifts into the vestry then they
would come pouring in from all these other churches and we would have at least
four long tables set up and they’d be loaded.”
Now
many churches are closed or not doing white gifts so a couple of small tables are
enough to hold this year’s food donations. It also means extras like baking
supplies are now being slashed from the grocery list because of fewer monetary
donations.
“We also used to
buy pancake mix and syrup because it’s not just dinner,” she said. “You want
families to get up Boxing Day and have something to eat. It’s Christmas Day,
and a little bit on top of that. But the on-top-of-that is disappearing.”
Going
public with her pleas for help has generated more private donations.
“We’ve had a few
more individuals step up which has helped,” Heather said. “Either people will
have to step up or we’ll just continue to slash the grocery list.”
So
that’s where this is heading, folks. As fewer of us participate in church and
community groups, we need to fill the gap as compassionate, generous individuals.
And
yet, all the calls for donations during the holiday season can be overwhelming,
draining both on the emotions and on the bank account.
Here
are a couple of ideas: This year, instead of exchanging gifts, members of the
United Church Women’s groups donated boxes of chocolates to be included in the
food boxes as treats.
My
own solution is better organization. I’ve gone to my 2016 calendar and written “Xmas
Food Boxes” and “Mittens & Socks” on the page for October. I’m going to
start that month to collect items for those two seasonal drives. At the same
time, I’m going to start buying items regularly for the other organizations I
supported this year that have ongoing needs.
It
will take only creative thinking, and a few new habits, to keep the Christmas tradition
of helping others alive for another twenty years.
 |
| Proof I take my own advice. |
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