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Organizer ‘awestruck’ by Christmas card campaign response

Hundreds of people in need will receive anonymous greeting cards inscribed with messages of hope this year though a Christmas card campaign organized by Gibsons resident Angie Dimmer.
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Angie Dimmer holds some of the 800 Christmas cards she has collected from the community to distribute to those in need. People have been dropping them off at her workplace at the Gibsons Garden Hotel.

Hundreds of people in need will receive anonymous greeting cards inscribed with messages of hope this year though a Christmas card campaign organized by Gibsons resident Angie Dimmer.

“I was absolutely awestruck, flabbergasted,” said Dimmer of the response to her campaign, which involves collecting donated Christmas cards with handwritten well-wishes and then redistributing them to groups facing difficult circumstances over the holidays.

She has received approximately 800 donated cards from businesses, community organizations, individuals and families since November. The cut-off was Dec. 1 but people keep donating. “Flabbergasted is my new word,” Dimmer said.

After making requests on Facebook and handing out flyers at businesses, the cards began to flow in to her makeshift card depot at Gibsons Garden Hotel, where she works as a receptionist. Some people donated blank cards, which were then picked up by others to fill out, while others donated cards already containing messages. Some cards are store-bought and others are handmade.

Dimmer and her two adult children inspect each one to ensure messages don’t contain profanity, and then ready them for delivery.

Initially, Dimmer had intended to get enough cards for the approximately 35 people who use the shelter in Sechelt, but with 800 cards, she faces a new challenge. “I have more cards than I know what to do with… I’ve asked for suggestions because I have so many,” Dimmer said. She plans to distribute them at senior and health care facilities such as the hospital, food banks, and to the 120 people anticipated to attend the Salvation Army Community Christmas Dinner on Dec. 21.

“I think it’s the greatest thing since sliced bread,” said Salvation Army’s Glen Fraser, who oversees programming on the Sunshine Coast. He said the idea “snowballed” after Dimmer approached a staff member about the initiative. “This is what Christmas is all about, community supporting community.”

Dimmer said she was inspired by her friend Erin Schulte, who began collecting Christmas cards for shelters in Surrey, Abbotsford and Maple Ridge. Schulte said she also received about 800 cards her first year, but this year donations have quadrupled to 3,200 cards. In addition to Lower Mainland shelters, she plans to distribute them to shelters in Toronto, Seattle and Los Angeles, among other communities.

Schulte said Dimmer’s effort to transplant the initiative to the Coast is unique. “I don’t know anybody else who has done what she’s done,” Schulte told Coast Reporter. “She’s just one of those people… She’s done a beautiful thing.”

Dimmer said the card campaign has given her a positive message during a dark time in her life, which included the loss of her adopted dog, Sophie. “After losing Sophie … it was tough, very tough,” she said.

The community’s response has inspired her to repeat the initiative again next year. “When you read all the messages that are in there, it’s just amazing. It makes me feel good. There’s no judgment, just smile, be happy, you belong here.”