There are elves on shore and they will be busy creating Christmas cheer for Coasters in need this holiday season.
The Elves Club is comprised of a group of volunteers who collect cash, food staples and gifts for hampers that will go to families who cannot afford to celebrate Christmas.
"We gave out 656 hampers last year, so we are collecting stuff for 700 this year," said Jacquie Braun, elf spokesperson.
The Elves Club received its charitable status in 1972, though they were operating well before that to provide Christmas hampers for the poor. Braun has been an elf since 1981 when, having moved from Winnipeg and being without family, she wanted to get involved in making others' holiday a positive experience.
"The spirit of Christmas goes not just to those receiving the hamper, but more to the people delivering them," she said. "That's my Christmas. I missed it one year, but never again. It's a family tradition now," adding her husband and grown children volunteer too.
During the last 20 years, Braun said the club has seen a shift in those who request a hamper. "Things have changed. A lot of disabled people on set incomes and a lot of older people are increasing over the years," she said.
There are many ways for the public to get involved in collecting for hampers or donating in general. When buying gifts to donate, Braun said to think of all age groups from infants to the elderly.
Terminal Forest Products is sponsoring a wood sale on Nov. 29 in the Gibsons Legion parking lot ($125 for a cord of wood). The Legion will also be holding a darts tournament Dec. 6. All proceeds from both events will go towards Elves Club hampers.
Anyone can become a member of the Elves Club for a penny a day and a non-perishable food item each month.
The main depot for drop-off of food and gift items is at Sunnycrest Mall beginning Nov. 29, and there will be multiple locations up and down the Coast with marked bins. The Blackfish Pub in Gibsons will host a toy event luncheon (date TBA) and the Elves annual telethon at the Gibsons Heritage Theatre is Saturday, Dec. 6. Coast Cable 11 organizes and runs the telethon for the club each year and will be broadcast live from 2 to 10 p.m. (Watch the Nov. 28 edition of Coast Reporter for more details.)The Christian Life Assembly Church at 730 School Rd. has agreed to let the club use its large space to build the hampers later in December, and volunteers are still needed. On Thursday, Dec. 18, school children help bag the vegetables, and starting Thursday evening and all day Friday, Dec. 19, the club needs older teens and adults to build boxes and fill them with food.
Friday night the gifts go into each box based on the family receiving it, and Saturday, Dec. 20, the hampers are hand-delivered.If you have the time to volunteer, call Braun at 604-886-4547.
