What an amazing community we live in! The Children’s Christmas Fund and the Agapè Centre joined again to present Community Christmas 2009 to truly inspiring results this year. I cannot think of a better example of community than Community Christmas each year.

Preparation for each Community Christmas is a year long process. Fundraising, planning, purchasing, scheduling, volunteer recruitment and client registration all keep the Children’s Christmas Fund and the Agapè Centre busy. A very special thank you to Peter Morgan and Marvin Plumadore for their commitment, time and efforts. Peter and Marvin are dedicated to the Children’s Christmas Fund and are at the heart of Community Christmas every year. They, along with everyone on the organizing committee, work tirelessly to ensure that every child in our community is happy at Christmas. They are an inspiration to all of us.

Hundreds of volunteers assisted 1,000 families in need with a food hamper and toys for the children this past Christmas. Volunteers from almost every service club in the community as well as from the Army reserves and the Armed Forces helped ensure that the distribution at the Cornwall Armouries went smoothly. Captain Eamer made the space available at the Armouries as well as his expertise for this community project. Bob Copeland, from Seaway Hyundai, organized to have all of the local car dealerships donate the use of a vehicle (with driver) to ensure that everyone could get their baskets home safely. These are just a few of the many community partners that made Community Christmas possible.

We were very concerned this year about how we would manage to meet the increased need in our community in a year when finances were expected to be a challenge. As an organizing committee, we struggled with the difficult decision of possibly reducing the number of food items in the basket because we did not have the money to maintain the food levels of previous years. After much discussion and worry, it was agreed that a few items would not be in the basket this year.

But that was before our community stepped in… Theresa Taylor and the Cornwall Rotary Club decided to conduct a cereal drive for Community Christmas. Their goal—to collect 1,000 boxes of cereal for the Christmas Baskets. They collected almost 2,000 boxes of cereal and they collected enough money to help pay for half the milk needed for the Christmas Baskets! As a result, brown beans and canned tuna were placed back into the baskets!

Cornwall Rotary was not alone. There were a number of other businesses, individuals and community agencies that helped collect food items for the Christmas Baskets. So many helped that the baskets this year were some of the best we have been able to distribute in years! Over 700 beautiful hams were donated to the baskets from local individuals which really made a huge difference in the quality of the baskets. With this donation, that meant that every family either received a turkey, a ham, or for the larger families—both turkey and ham!

A description of Christmas Baskets cannot be made without talking about toys for the children. Every year we call Sparky’s (aka the Cornwall Fire Department) for help with toys as we never have quite enough. This year he brought us hundreds of toys and gifts for the children! Toys are also collected by local businesses through our angel tree program. Olymel, TD Canada Trust, NavCanada, SCM, La Citadelle are just a few of the organizations that collected toys. Over 2,000 children had a special something to unwrap at Christmas as a result! Frank Hunter, a retired school teacher, did an awesome job with his many “elves” to sort through all the toys and ensure that every child had an appropriate gift!

There were numerous other community partners that helped make this Christmas a true blessing. Local grocery stores such as Giant Tiger, Justin’s NoFrills, and WalMart, helped ensure that the very best prices for the food were found for the baskets. Other organizations, such as local schools, Corus and Benson’s conducted amazing food drives that will keep the shelves at the Agapè Centre stocked throughout the winter months. “Local People Helping Local People,” it is who we are and what we do!

On behalf of the 1,000 families that have received a Christmas basket at the Cornwall Armouries, the Agapè Centre, or one of the many organizations that privately sponsored… our sincere thanks for your generosity. Happy New Year!