Ways to Help This Christmas
Christmas preparations are now in high gear here at the Abbotsford Food Bank and Christmas Bureau, and have been for many months. If Santa’s Workshop were a real place, we’d imagine it to look a lot like this. Gifts are flooding our doors, shelves are being stocked, and there’s a level of nervous excitement that doesn’t come around any other time of the year.
It’s crazy—and it’s certainly messy—but we love it! Why? Because it means that people are being helped. It means that hope is being restored in people’s lives. And it means that our community cares. And boy oh boy, does our community ever care!
Meet Emily—one of our newest (and one of our favourite) sponsors.
“For many years I received help from the Christmas Bureau as a single mom.
I remember when our sponsor showed up at our door with gifts for my daughter and everything that we needed to make an amazing turkey dinner. I cried and couldn’t believe that complete strangers cared enough to do that for us.
This year, we have been truly blessed beyond our means and have chosen to sponsor a family. For the first time, it will be our honour to reach out a hand just as someone once did for us. I want to teach my daughter about kindness, generosity, and the gift of selfless love. Christmas is an amazing time of year and wouldn’t want to see anyone go without.
To the Abbotsford Food Bank and Christmas Bureau: thank you for everything you did for us.”
From a forever grateful recipient, Emily.
Because of the generosity that our community showed, Emily’s life was turned upside down. It’s a beautiful story, and it gives us all sorts of fuzzy feelings. But it also reminds us to keep working—because there are hundreds of other families out there in Abbotsford who aren’t as far along in their journey as Emily.
We have an opportunity—like Emily—to remind people that they are not alone and that we are a community that cares. Here’s how you can help:
