Holiday hamper applications in southwestern Manitoba’s biggest city are at an all-time high, racing past the available capacity of Brandon-Westman Christmas Cheer’s warehouse.
The non-profit expects a record of at least 1,500 hamper requests this holiday season, but they only have room for 1,100 hampers at their facility, says volunteer Synthia Wright.
She says hamper requests reflect growing food insecurity issues and access to affordable housing in the community of 54,000.
“It’s that multi-pronged concern with climate, with housing, with food insecurity, and a lot of new families … need that assistance and extra help for families that are vulnerable, especially around the winter season,” Wright said.
Chantelle Hutchison says she counts on Christmas Cheer making the holidays possible for her family. She’s signed up for hampers for the last eight years.
Hutchison is on disability, making it hard to afford food, housing and other necessities. She says she and her partner often skip meals so their children can eat. The holidays are always stressful because they’re another expense and they want it to be a great memory for their two children.
This makes Christmas Cheer essential in bringing holiday joy to her family, she says, and why she always watches at the start of November so her family can sign up.
“It’s huge. It’s probably the only way we could get a do a Christmas supper for the kids,” Hutchison said.
Brandon Christmas Cheer headquarters, located in the basement of the city’s library, is bursting at the seams with holiday hampers. Last year Brandon’s Christmas Cheer had more than 1,400 requests for hampers.
To help with the demand, community service groups, church groups, businesses and other volunteers adopted 300 families, Wright says.
There are four different types of hampers available: individual, small for about four people, medium for about six people and large for bigger families.
She’s hoping groups will step up again this year to ensure families such as Hutchinson’s get a hamper under the Christmas tree.
“It’s a really great thing for community groups to connect with the family that they are donating to … they can deliver it themselves and the family can thank them in person,” Wright said. “That’s a really nice festive exchange. I think it’s really important.”
Hamper requests continue to grow
Christmas Cheers across the province are seeing an increase in hamper requests.
In Morden, Christmas Cheer delivered 364 hampers to more than 1,000 people in 2023, volunteer Chelsey Delaquis says. They expect to deliver more than 400 hampers this year at a cost of about $120,000.
The hampers include gifts and grocery store gift cards.
“The biggest … challenge we’ve been up against this year for sure is the rising cost of groceries,” she said. “This is the second year in a row that we have to reevaluate and look at how much we’re donating or putting in our hampers, and make sure our donations can cover that.”
In Winnipeg, the Christmas Cheer Board is taking steps to ensure all its commitments are fulfilled during its busy season— including checking whether people are getting a hamper elsewhere before handing them out. Record demand forced the organization to stop taking hamper applications earlier than usual in 2023.
Virden Christmas Cheer is slowly seeing hamper requests rise, but not at the rate of communities such as Brandon, Morden or Winnipeg, says co-chair Lisa Williams.
Last year, their busiest, they delivered about 130 hampers in Virden and the surrounding area, Williams says. She expects that number will rise slightly this year.
The Winkler District Christmas Cheer Board is seeing requests for hampers continue to rise, says volunteer Lori Derksen. Last year they delivered a record 397 hampers that included gifts for 746 children.
This year they expect to easily see more than 400 hampers made.
She thinks the rising demands reflect how expensive life has become for families.
“The cost of living goes up. … Different life circumstances happen, whether it’s illness, loss of a job, or challenges in life,” Derksen said. “There’s so many different factors that play into it that — that put people in a situation where they could benefit from a hamper.”
In Brandon, hamper applications are open until Nov. 18. Families can apply for hampers via referrals from different organizations and social services.
It’s a time for the community to come together and ensure everyone gets to celebrate the holidays, Wright says. They’re counting on the adopt-a-family to ensure everyone who applies gets a hamper.
“The bridge that we need to gap is the actual physical hampers getting prepared and delivered to families by community groups,” Wright said. “We’re really going to be asking the community to step in and help us with that by adopting a family.”