Deltassist sees big generosity, and bigger need
The numbers from Deltassist’s Christmas Hamper program are in and the need is 50 per cent greater than a half decade ago.
Deltassist helped 1,843 people during Christmas in 2012, a big increase from 2007 when they helped 1,233 people.
The non-profit organization provides low-income residents with food hampers and toys each Christmas.
“We provided toys for 783 children, the most we have ever helped,” said Doug Sabourin, executive director of Deltassist.
Parents who registered with Deltassist and met the criteria were invited to the East Delta Hall toy depot to pick up a selection of gifts for their children.
Sabourin said over 125 volunteers worked a combined 980 hours to help Deltassist deliver the Christmas Hamper program, including Delta fire fighters at the toy depot.
A dozen local service clubs also pitched in to help distribute the food hampers to 610 families across Delta.
Closer to Christmas, many local service clubs fanned out across Delta delivering food hampers to those having trouble putting food on the table.
“We wanted to make sure everyone had a Merry Christmas,” said Sabourin.
“We’re glad that we made the holidays better for them, but now that we are into a new year, there are still a lot of people having a tough time that need our help.”
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