It’s the most wonderful time of the year, especially when you ask Karen Mehok.
The St. Albert Kinette is riding as high as Santa Claus on Christmas Eve right now. As the organizer of the annual Christmas hamper campaign, she sees firsthand how the community always steps up to donate food and presents for families struggling with finances, and this year is no different.
“St. Albert always comes through for us,” she said adding there is also a massive community of volunteers that work on the project. Sometimes she has to turn people away but at least that’s better than the alternative.
She’s especially thrilled with the drivers of St. Albert Transit who helped to run the Fill-A-Bus event on the weekend that resulted in seven buses packed full of donations.
“I don’t know how the Kinettes ever did it without them. Half of everything that we get comes from the Fill-A-Bus. If they ever decided that they weren’t going to take part any more, we wouldn’t know what to do. It’s amazing having them on board to help us out the way they do.”
The end result of the two-week campaign is enough supplies to compile hampers for 225 families, although some referrals are still coming in before today’s deadline. Hampers will be delivered tonight and tomorrow night.
She sent out a huge thank you to all of the schools that collected goods and anyone else who put a donation in any of the several collection bins that were placed in high consumer traffic locations like St. Albert Centre since Nov. 27.
“It’s totally overwhelming, like nothing I’ve ever seen.”
To enquire about getting on the hamper list or to volunteer your services, call Mehok at 780-418-3930 or visit www.stalbertkinettes.ca.
