The ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ Christmas Fund continues to grow, with your help. It is at $311,103.51 — money that will be put to work helping people in need throughout our readership area.
That is half as much as we had raised by this date last year, but twice as much as the year before.
As we’ve noted, last year’s outpouring of support was unprecedented, the result of the tremendous community spirit of giving during the first year of the pandemic.
It is not likely we can come close to last year’s total, given the fatigue that is hampering donations to most charities in the region, but we are giving it our best shot.
We have to. We’ve been doing this too long to stop now. Our fund was launched in 1956, but we have been raising funds to help the less fortunate at Christmas for almost as long as we have been in business.
Consider this plea, in support of the Rotary Club’s Christmas fundraising efforts:
“Today there will be in nearly every home where the parents are well enough off, a time of rejoicing over well-filled stockings and welcome Christmas presents, but there are hundreds of homes in this city where there will be no Christmas dinner, no well-filled stockings for the kiddies, but only sadness and disappointment.
“This can all be changed,” the Daily Colonist said on Christmas Day, 1921.
It could all be changed then, and it can all be changed now. All it takes is a commitment to help your friends and neighbours get through these tough times.
Mike Black, the president of Capital Iron, understands what we need to do. That is why Black and his employees came together to donate $500 to the fund.
Adam Boswick, the chief operating officer for Bottle Depot, understands it as well. That is why the three Bottle Depot locations have designated our Christmas Fund, along with CFAX Santas Anonymous, as the two beneficiaries for all revenue from returnable cans and bottles deposited into dedicated donation bins this month.
A few hundred other people get it as well. Watch for a list of their names in Sunday’s edition. We will run more lists in the next few weeks, as more money comes in. Thanks to all of you for your support.
How to donate
You can donate by going to the ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ Christmas Fund fundraising page at .
The site is open 24 hours a day and provides an immediate tax receipt. Or mail a cheque to the ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ Christmas Fund, 201-655 Tyee Road, Victoria, ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ V9A 6X5.
You can also use your credit card by phoning 250-995-4438 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Dave Obee is editor and publisher of the ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½.
