The Elves Club Telethon is back after taking a hiatus last year.
The Elves Club is one of the oldest Christmas charity drives on the Sunshine Coast, dating back to 1968, and last year they raised $36,780 that went to 643 families in the form of food and merchandise gift cards.
This year’s goal is $45,000, and Elves Club president Lynn Nestman said this week that the need in the community is at least as great as 2016.
Nestman said the Elves are glad that Coast TV is able to partner with them again, because the telethon has the potential to get them to their fundraising target in a single day. She said the local entertainers who are featured during the broadcast are also excited, especially the youngsters.
“It’s more than a telethon. It’s become a great community event that these kids really work hard all year to pull off.”
The telethon is set for Dec. 2 from 2 to 8 p.m. on Coast TV (channel 10 on the Coast Cable system), and will run simultaneously with the Crash the Coast boot drive. Volunteers from all the Coast’s fire departments along with volunteers from community groups will be trying to fill their boots with donations near the malls and major intersections.
2016 was the first year the Elves distributed gift cards instead of the traditional gift and food hampers. Nestman said the change was very well received and buying a lot of gift cards puts the Elves Club in a position to negotiate discounts to make the donations stretch further.
Nestman said some people still like to give a gift, and the Elves still gladly accept them because they can be distributed to families in communities like Pender Harbour who might not be able to make it into Sechelt or Gibsons to use a gift card.
Online donations are being accepted at www.elvesclub.ca. The website also has information about applying to receive one of the gift-card packages. The deadline is Dec. 12 and the hampers will be ready for pickup on Dec. 16.
The Elves Club may have centre-stage this weekend, but there are also several other fundraising efforts underway around the Coast:
• The Sunshine Coast Community Services Society (SCCSS) is accepting donations for its North Pole Room, where families that access SCCSS are invited to pick gifts for each other. They can be dropped off at the Community Services office at 5638 Inlet Ave. in Sechelt from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Friday.
• Sunshine Coast Secret Santa is accepting online donations at www.sunshine
coastsecretsanta.com.
• The Salvation Army’s Christmas Kettle campaign is in full swing.
• Local food banks are also looking for contributions of cash and groceries.
