HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2007-11-21, Page 9News
The Huron Expositor • November 21, 2007 Page 9
Annual Christmas bag program is in 10th year
Bag campaign promotes donations
. • •
Susan ll u n d e r t m a r k
The Huron County Christmas
Bureau will get a boost this week as
community newspapers across the
county take part in the Christmas
bag program for the 10th year. .
In this week's Huron Expositor,
subscribers will find a brown paper
bag sponsored by the newspaper
and several businesses and indus-
tries.
Printed on the bag, along with
sponsor information, are details of
where each of the county bureaus
are located and times, gifts and food
can be dropped off.
to Huron County Christmas Bureau
It also 'provides information for
people who may need help this
Christmas on how to reach the
bureau and register.
Each year, the bureau collects
food and gifts that assist more than
1,000 children and their families
across the county.
Spearheaded
Seaforth Santa Claus parade kicks
off this year's Christmas bureau
Members of the senior youth group of interested in electronic games and gadgets
but that track suits and children's sets are not
as popular as they once were.
"Selecting clothes for teens in particular can
be tricky," it says.
"We try to provide mitts, hats, socks, under-
wear and pajamas for every child," adds
Stewart.
Stewart says that angel tags have been dis-
tributed to churches throughout Seaforth for
those who prefer to shop for a specific age
group or gender.
Donations of money are also accepted to buy
gifts for age groups that haven't received
enough donations of gifts or clothing.
"The response in Seaforth has been pretty
overwhelming the past few years so they
didn't have to make a lot of purchases," says
Stewart.
As well, there are drop boxes throughout
Seaforth at the banks, the credit union, the
hospital and the medical clinic.
"Seaforth has always been very generous -
we hope that continues," she says.
Anyone who wants to volunteer, can call
Sharon .Wilbee at 519-527-0929 or Joan
Stewart at 519-527-2907.
Northside and Cavan United Churches col-
lecting donations along the parade route of
the Seaforth Santa Claus parade will kick off
this year's Christmas bureau.
"About six to eight young people will do the
collecting at the parade but a lot of the dona-
tions come in during the week the bureau is
open," says this year's organizer Joan
Stewart.
While the five Christmas bureau locations
in Huron County are open from Dec. 10 to 14
from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Stewart says the
Seaforth bureau decided to extend the hours
to 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
"We wanted to accommodate people before
and after work," she says.
Stewart encourages families who plan to
register for help from the Christmas bureau
to register as soon as possible with the Huron
County Children's Aid Society.
Any economically disadvantaged family in
Huron County with children aged 16 or
younger can request assistance for the confi-
dential service which provides food, clothing
and gifts for each family.
This year's volunteer committee is recom-
mending that those donating gifts
and clothing take a young person
shopping to help select the items.
"Over the past several years, we
have noticed a marked change in
children's interests," says a press
release from the committee.
"The 10 -14 -year-olds are often
`short-changed' as it is easier to buy
for younger children."
The press release points out that
children from age seven up are very
green
breeze
power
Santa Claus
eaeruef
oreAlr e
Wacieseeeft 30 at ?mac
ry
/� St. Se4dtt .
%.emote: Silueot Seat,
For information call Joe Steffler 519-527-2389
or Ross Ribey 519-527-1790.
BRUSSELS SANTA CLAUS PARADE:
SAT DEC. 1, 2007
Seaforth and District Food Bdlnk will be collecting
non-perishable food items along the parade route
by the Seaforth
Huron Expositor
and sponsored by
a number of
Huron County
businesses,
newsp-apers
across .the county
join forces to pro-
mote the use of
the bags.
T h e
Christmas
Bureau served
977 children and
their families in
2005, 110 fewer
children but
before last year,
numbers had
been rising since
2000.
Poverty sta-
tistics in Huron
County, according to 2001 statistics
show that 645 families in Huron
County earn less than $10,000 a
year with another 1,420 families
with annual incomes of less than
$20,000.
They also show 2,665 children
under age 18 living in low income
households, 1,580 of them being
raised by single parents.
In Seaforth, the numbers of chil-
dren using the service dropped last
year by 11 children down to 98 in
total with 43 families.
Earlier, Seaforth numbers rose
from 92 in 2001, 108 in 2002, 120
children in 2003, 141 in 2004 and
dropped again in 2005 with 109.
The number of Seaforth families
increased from 48 in 2002 to 51 in
2003 and to 59 in 2004 and dropped
to 49 in 2005.
This year, Christmas bureaus are
located at St. George's Anglican
Church in Goderich, St. Paul's
Anglican Church in Clinton,
Northside United Church in
Seaforth, Exeter United Church and
Wingham United Church.These
locations will be open to receive
gifts from Dec. 10-14 from 10 a.m.
until 5 p.m.
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