Youth were able to check every item off of their Christmas shopping lists for their families during the Christmas with Dignity’s largest fundraiser, the Kids’ Holiday Store Fundraiser on Dec. 15.
“It went amazing. We didn’t expect the great turnout,” said Senior Coordinator of Social Development and Planning Danielle Fermin.
“The kids were having a blast picking out presents,” Fermin said.
“What’s been really fun is just seeing how happy the kids were when they were shopping for their families,” Fermin said.
She added, seeing how seriously the youth took finding the perfect Christmas gifts for their families was the best part of the Kids’ Holiday Store Fundraiser.
During the fundraiser, youth were able to make reindeer out of pinecones, go on a scavenger hunt, or get family portraits with Santa while indulging in hot chocolate and popcorn.
Fermin said, there has been much more community involvement with the Kids’ Holiday Store Fundraiser, which has been amazing.
All the elf volunteers were happy to help kids find something that every person on their list would enjoy, Fermin said.
She added, “There was been much more ownership from our community residents to be involved.”
There has been more people asking about the Kids’ Holiday Store Fundraiser, and more people wanting to get involved in helping, Fermin said.
She added, many donations for the Kids’ Holiday Store Fundraiser were received, and the store was well stocked for three rounds of shopping.
“We did see really good gifts coming in, we still got many gifts for moms and the girls in the family. I think next year we’ll do targeted shopping lists,” Fermin said.
However, in order to reach the Christmas with Dignity fundraising goal of $23,000, donations still need to come in, Fermin said.
“We were only to $8,000 earlier in the week, hopefully we will see more donations come in,” Fermin said.
Without the help of the many volunteers the Kids’ Holiday Store Fundraiser wouldn’t have been possible, Fermin said.
“Thank you to everyone for helping out with the store and making this season a great campaign season for us,” Fermin said.
She added, “We look forward to helping the families with Christmas Hampers and then next year with our donations that we were able to raise.”
Cash, cheque and credit card donations to Christmas with Dignity can be made until Dec. 21 at Chestermere City Hall.
