For its 70th campaign, the Chatham Goodfellows had another strong holiday season, raising more than $221,000 to help those in need in the community.
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There was an expected high demand for assistance, with more than 1,600 food hampers delivered, along with toys for 1,360 children, as part of the No Child Without a Christmas initiative.
“I can always expect (the generosity) from Chatham-Kent, because they always step up for us,” Tim Haskell, Goodfellows spokesperson, said Monday. “They always keep us where we need to be.”
In a recent release, the board of directors thanked the corporate sponsors, private businesses, service clubs, churches, schools, volunteers and citizens for making the campaign possible.
Included in the total were funds from the porch light campaign, which raised $57,000, and the street sales campaign, which collected $31,475.
“(The need) has grown a little bit this year, but … we can take care of the people,” Haskell said. “We had at least 2,000-plus volunteers come out throughout the whole campaign. It was awesome to see all the work being done by everyone.
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“It’s because of the volunteers that we can do what do. The people who donate to us, same thing.”
Haskell also thanked Azhar Choudhry and Dinal Peramune allowing the use of the former Monsignor Uyen elementary school on Lark Street for toy packing and delivery.
However, since the owners are planning to build housing on the site, the Goodfellows will be looking for a different facility for the next campaign.
“We usually need enough space to cover our toy packing,” Haskell said. “We also have to have space for the people to come in and help us. There’s two or three hundred people a night.
“That’s one of the hardest parts about Goodfellows, is finding the right location and the right building to do our job. But we’ll make anything work if we can.”
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