Christmas Bureau 2017 Results

Another Christmas is wrapped up and we wanted to say thank you to all who helped make this year another success! Whether you gave in time, money, service or all the above, it made a difference and we are so thankful. We know that many of you do not give out of excess, but rather make sacrifices in order to make giving to the Christmas Bureau possible and we admire that so much. Watching the community surround us once again is an amazing experience. We are so grateful to be able to witness our community show such love to the families who come to us for help.

This year we saw an increase in the number of families applying to receive help over Christmas. Thankfully, though, we also saw an increase in the number of sponsors! Together, we were able to help 573 families, 174 seniors, and 1,257 children. What could have been an overwhelming task, was made much, much easier with the support of 257 amazing sponsors. Thank you so much to everyone who stepped up to help a family.

Hearing the feedback from sponsors, families, and seniors is truly one of our favorite times of the new year. Here is a peek at some of the stories we’ve heard from this year:

Our Christmas for our children was that much more heartwarming because of kind amazing people in and around our community. I hope one day to be able to do as much as I’ve received. If there were more people in the world like that it truly would be a better place thank you so much. – Shelley

I was very appreciative since this Christmas was a tough one and sadly I couldn’t afford to get many presents for my toddler. Even with how young he is and not fully understanding Christmas, my sponsors gave us a blessing. My son was so happy with his gifts and had nothing but smiles all day. Couldn’t be any more happier than I was. His happiness is all I wanted, and I received more than I expected. – Anonymous

 

I am so very grateful. I have to say that I was that person doing the giving for many years and to receive has been a learning curve – my donor’s phone calls calmed me. She answered all my questions. She said it was her first year as a volunteer so we were in it together. It is ok to receive. It is ok to be helped. It doesn’t have anything to do with who I am as a person. So, Christmas Bureau- a big Thank you. The generosity of this group of people who gave to me warmed my heart and helped a ‘senior’ to feel cared for. What I felt was bleak became so much more than I could imagine. Bless you all. – Jill

As seniors, we could not have expected our incomes from CPP would have to be stretched so heavily. Not yet qualified for OAP & GIS, (due to start on my birthday in June 2018) would NOT have been able to celebrate a ‘Family” Christmas without the assistance of our sponsor. While we wait for the “Upward” income change, beginning in July – we are so very grateful for the privilege of receiving assistance. Thank you to ABBY Food Bank & sponsor for the generosity & kindness toward our family. – Bill & Heather

We had a very positive experience with our family, it got all my staff in the Christmas spirit and the family sent me an email on Christmas morning with pictures of his daughter with all her gifts thanking us for our generosity. Overall a great experience and will be back next year! – Tanya

It’s important to our family that we support families with children, as there are a bunch of young kids in our family and we want them to have the experience of picking out gifts for other kids their age and have an understanding that some people don’t have the privileges we have. The family we sponsored was great. They communicated with us clearly and we easily found a time to deliver the food and gifts. The youngest boy was super excited when he met us at the door and the mom thanked us profusely for what we brought. They even gave us a card and a little gift in return! We felt great as a family to be able to support another family this Christmas and will definitely do it again. It was also a rare and exciting chance to be able to meet the people who we were giving to – put a face to what we were doing, say Merry Christmas, and give a hug. The whole thing was pretty special for us and such a straightforward way to do what we believe Christmas is all about. – Anonymous

 

These are just some of the heartwarming experiences those in our community had this Christmas season. The majority of these families and seniors that were helped at Christmas still need help through the year. If you haven’t already, please join the e-mail list to stay up to date with a like-minded community. Together we make a difference in Abbotsford. Thank you so much for your support!