Times Advocate, 1997-12-17, Page 54Second Section - December 24, 1997
Christmas Bureau providing joy for Exeter area's needy
ing home residents and other audiences
throughout southern Ontario with. the
Townliners, agreed.
"It makes me feel good," he said. "I get
an awful lot of satisfaction when I see
their faces. It feels wonderful -to help
out."
Volunteer Faye Rader feels she needsto
give back to her community.
"I think it's exciting to see the variety of
what is given and the generosity of peo-
ple," she said. "I enjoy it .knowing people
will appreciate our efforts."
Packing Christmas joy. Above, Christmas Bureau volunteers Jim Glasgow, left, Don Easton,
,Faye Rader and Pauline Simmons pack food boxes for needy families. Although the Bureau
helps out the less fortunate in South Huron at Christmas, those families are also in need the
rest of the vear.
$y Craig Bradford
' T -A Reporter
EXETER You know Christmas isn't far
off when you see 'cheque presentation
photos to the Christmas Bureau in your
Times -Advocate.
But the growing need for such an entity
underlines the fact things aren't quite as
rosy as financial analysts say.
This year the
Bureau, , operated
through Caven
Presbyterian Church,
gave gifts and cloth-
ing to 310 children
and food boxes to
their parents. The
,donated items were
picked up, first the
food at Caven then
the clothes and toys
at the building on the southwest corner of
Main and Anne streets, last week.
That number is up from the 287 chil-
dren the Bureau helped in '96 and the
highest the number has ever been, Caven
Rev. Dan Roushorne said.
"I think the revival of theeconomy is
• greatly exaggerated," Roushorne said in
response to the heightened numbers of
needy the Bureau,helped this holiday sea-
son. "This area seems especially hard hit.
We're the largest Bureau (in Huron
County) now. There's a big gap in Exeter
between the 'haves' and 'have nots'.
Sometimes whgn you 'have' you don't
see the 'have nots'."
Bureau manager Conrad Sitter called
being the largest one in Huron "a dubi-
ous honor" but lauded the community
saying contributors provided a surplus of
.food and just enough clothes and toys.
Though slow at first, the South Huron
community stepped up to the challenge
of making sure those less fortunate than
themselves had some joy this Christmas,
Roushorne said.
"This community
has come through
tremendously," he
said.
Exeter contributed
$10,000 of the
Bureau's about
$12,000 budget, with
the rest coming from
surrounding
communities.
Though South
Huron can gang together to help the
needy at Christmas, those who need help,
now also need it throughout the year.
'These families are still going to be in
need after Christmas," Bureau volunteer
Gwen Brown, one of over 20, said. "We
are going to have t� find a way to help
them the rest of the year."
Thdugh they know the need will con-
tinue after their time with the Bureau is
done, volunteers are glad they can help
out.
"It's rewarding, , satisfying," volunteer
Bernice Thompson 'said.
Volunteer Doug Insley, who also gets
into the holiday spirit by playing to nurs-
But Rader has a more personal reason
about why she chooses to give so freely
of her time during this busy season.
"Maybe because I was at the other end
of it and I always planned to do this end.
I guess that's why I do this."
Roushorne gives a special thank you to
the South Huron District High School
students who volunteered to. help the
Bureau deliver its holiday dose of good
spirits.
"We, received tremendous support from
the high school," Roushorne said.
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Getting Into the holiday spirit. Below, South Huron Christmas Bureau volunteers Bernice
Thompson, left, Doug Insley, Caven Presbyterian Church Rev. Dan Roushorne and Gwen
Brown show off some of the toys kids in need will pick out. This year marked the biggest ever
need for the Bureau with 310 children registered.
•
en these models
lip to 60 mo.
242 Main St. N. Exeter
235-2353
0