Giving Tree collects presents for Baldwin House families

Nick Seebruch
Giving Tree collects presents for Baldwin House families
Pictured from left-to-right are the Friends with Hearts team Amberly Coulter

CORNWALL, Ontario – Three families will be getting some community love this Christmas.

For the sixth year in a row, the Friends with Hearts have held their Giving Tree campaign at Schnitzels.

The Giving Tree was setup in Schnitzels during the last week of November and since then, guests to the restaurant have been encouraged to take a tag off the tree. Each tag describes a potential gift recipient and what they would like for Christmas.

Each recipient is a member of one of three families that were selected by Maison Baldwin House based on their need.

“These families are rebuilding from nothing,” said Justine Viray-Levac of Friends with Hearts.

This year, roughly 500 gifts were donated. Over the past six years, this fundraiser has collected nearly 2,000 gifts.

In addition to the gifts, each family will also be getting a mini gift card tree. The tree is decorated with gift cards for the essentials like Food Basics, Walmart and the Dollar Store.

On Tuesday, Dec. 19, the group held a small wrapping party at Schnitzels to get all of the gifts wrapped for the holidays.

“This community always goes above and beyond,” said Levac. “If one of the gifts we are looking for is an umbrella, then someone donates the best umbrella ever. Local realtors, business owners and even customers come in and help out. We’re not as big as other groups in town, but we still see a lot of support. We’re small but mighty.”

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