The Chatham Goodfellows are in position for another successful No Child Without a Christmas campaign after local residents donated $57,000 in Monday night’s Porchlight fundraiser.
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About 600 volunteers, including 120 from Chatham-Kent secondary school, spanned out across Chatham to collect money, food and toys at homes that left their porchlight on. The volunteers knocked “it out of the park” again this year, said Goodfellows spokesperson Tim Haskell.
“We are truly humbled.”
The Porchlight campaign collected about 1,500 toys and enough food to fill 120 banana boxes, he said.
Haskell said the volunteer organization is also truly blessed by the community’s generosity.
Noting the Porchlight total “sets us up pretty good,” Haskell said, “It’s an awesome thing, because when you hit $57,000 in one night that gives you a big chunk of our budget that we spend every year.”
There are about 1,600 families registered to receive food and toy donations, which is around last year’s total, he said. But, Haskell expects the number will rise, because the Goodfellows don’t turn away families in need.
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The need is high with Haskell noting volunteers who register recipients have told him they are seeing new people coming into their system.
The organization will prepare for its second fundraiser of the season when Street Sales of the Goodfellows newspaper, by donation, is held Dec. 13 and 14 in Chatham.
Haskell said the fundraising goal with Porchlight, Street Sales and donations from local businesses, service clubs, groups and private donors is to equal the $228,000 raised in last year’s campaign.
“If we can get the money we need to pay the bills at the end of the year, that’s all we want,” he said.
The Goodfellows are also gearing up for the delivery of toys and food.
Toy packing takes place Dec. 9 to 12 at the former Monsignor Uyen School at 255 Lark St. in Chatham, followed by deliveries on Dec. 17, beginning at 5:30 pm
Food packing and delivery of hampers will be held Dec. 18 at the Spirit and Life Center, 184 Wellington St. W., in Chatham. The packing will begin at 8 am and deliveries start at 11:30 am
Haskell said people interested in volunteering for any of these activities are asked to register online at www.chathamgoodfellows.ca.
Volunteers can also just show up and “we’ll find something for you to do,” he said.
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